Breath of Life

Our youngest missed the first three days of school this week. His asthma, which is rarely active, was acting up in full force.  He had a cold/sinus infection, plus an ear infection.  He did breathing treatments, we used essential oils in the diffuser, cough medicine, allergy/cold oils and meds, then finally resorted to going in to the doctor for a prescription.  It had been a long time since he had to have prednisone for his breathing, but when you're having a hard time breathing, you are willing to take the nasty stuff!  You have to!

I was thinking yesterday how that, for those who don't ever struggle to breath, it's hard for them to imagine.  I understand the struggle because I have it, myself, but some of my family member's children have it and the mommas can't understand it because they don't have asthma.  It makes it much harder for them, though they do the best they can to help their child.

The breath of life is important for our physical well-being, but the breath of life....THE breath of life...in our spiritual lives is even more important.  And maybe, just like in the physical sense, someone may understand the importance of it a little more, but the reality is that it's just as important to those who don't.

When humankind was created, God gave him life. "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being,"  Genesis 2:7.  Our very breath came from the Lord.  But it's even more than that.

The word soul in Hebrew is nephesh, meaning “an animated, breathing, conscious, and living being.” Man did not become a living soul until God breathed life into him. As a physical, animate, rational, and spiritual being, man is unique among all living things upon the earth.  No other living thing has those qualities.  God did that!  We are uniquely made!

Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it. Isaiah 42:5

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23

The breath of God is the life and power of God, given to man to animate him. The Hebrew word for spirit is ruach, which means “wind, breath, air, spirit.” Our physical bodies will die.  That physical breathing will end, but the soul, the spirit, will live on for eternity.  The question will be - where will you spend it?  That's what matters.