The Scripture ~ “Saving is all God’s idea, and all God’s work. All we DO is trust God enough to let God do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.” Ephesians 2:8-9 The Message
The Spiritual Focus ~ “Through salvation our past has been forgiven, our present has been given meaning, our future is secured.” Rick Warren
The Devotion ~ Have you ever been asked for the date that you “got saved?” It is a standard question in some faith traditions and not so much in others. Some faith traditions understand the word salvation as a noun, such as in ‘being saved’ or as a root word for Savior. However, the word salvation has been used almost twice as many times in scripture as a verb. 110 times the word salvation translates to mean, being healed, restored to wholeness, or being made whole.
The ancient 1st century Israelites of Jesus day were far less concerned about being saved in eternity and far more concerned with being made whole or healed in the present, in the now.
One of the most powerful things yoga has taught us is to be present now. Healing and wholeness was a primary mission and message for Jesus and by the Holy Spirit is still a primary experience for us today. When we practice pranayama (breath), when we practice asana (physical movement) our attention is drawn to the moment, the now. We increase our awareness of God’s presence, body, mind and spirit all working in harmony. The breath and the movement, while healing for our bodies, is only part of being made whole. We are made whole by God’s grace, which is experienced in the relationship God created us for. BEing made whole is as easy as being aware of God’s gift of grace and trusting God to be God now, today. Trusting God to make us whole is a faith practice, and something we practice on our mats, that lives into the world.
Breath Prayer
Inhale ~ I AM
Exhale ~ Whole
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