Breathing is one of those basic elements in life that most people take for granted. When I was six, I had the wind knocked out of me while playing football. My initially reaction was pain until my inability to breathe led to panic. My sister Cindy grabbed my arm and pushed me over onto my stomach. Forty years later following this experience, a sledding accident placed me into a more dire situation. Two cracked ribs and a collapsed lung made it nearly impossible for me to breathe.
And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground—to everything in which there is the breath of life—I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day, Genesis 1:30-31.
According to oral tradition passed down to Moses, God gave the breath of life into every living creature on earth. Unfortunately, the teaching of Charles Darwin on evolution is still influencing minds today. While the second and third law of thermodynamics proves that you can’t create something out of nothing, the idea of a Big Bang still exists. As an elder from one of my former churches once told me, God spoke and BANG the universe was created via the breath of life.
Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it, Ecclesiastes 12:7.
King Solomon was considered one of the wisest people to walk the face of the earth. In the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon refers to the creation story. Reflecting upon what happens at the end of human life, Solomon points to the cycle of life, ending up just like Adam prior to God breathing life into him. Job uses a similar confession in Job 42:5-6, which is the inspiration for modern day Ash Wednesday services. May today’s blog help you to appreciate and be thankful for the breath of life.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 