30 Days of Gratitude: Day 2

Air I Breathe

On this second day of our gratitude journey, let's focus on being grateful for the air in our lungs. We can go all the way back to Genesis with this one. When God created man, he formed man from the dust of the earth. He breathed life into man, and man became alive. The Hebrew word used is nshamah (neh-shaw-maw'), which means vital breath, divine inspiration, and intellect. Think about that: God gave us divine breath, divine inspiration, and intellect when we created each one of us! James Boice once said, “The implication, readily seen by any Hebrew reader, [is] that man was specially created by God’s breathing some of His own breath into him.” The air in our lungs is the breath of God.

Looking at Job, there is another crucial verse that reminds us of the importance of the air we breathe. Job 27:3 and Job 33:4 say "as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils...The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life." When Job talks about the breath of God in his nostrils, a different word is used here. That word is Ruach, meaning spirit. Ruach is the root word we need to recognize in the name of the holy spirit. The words nshamah and ruah continue to show themselves in the verse from Job 33. In the worst of Job's life, he still chose to recognize that God gives him life and God will breathe life into us, even in the darkest moments.

The Prophet Isaiah speaks of breath in chapter 42. Isaiah says, This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people,  and life to those who walk on it..." Take a moment and focus on your breath. Look up and take a breath: God created the heavens and stretched them out. Look down and take a breath: God created the earth and everything that comes from it. Find a mirror, look in it, and take a breath: God gave you breath at creation, and gave breath to all of life on earth.

Michael W. Smith has a song called Breathe. The lyrics are beautuful, meditate on them:

This is the air I breathe

This is the air I breathe

Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread

This is my daily bread

Your very word spoken to me

And I.......... I'm desperate for you

And I.......... I'm lost without you

Elevation has a song called Praise. This song serves as a reminder that as long as we are breathing, we all have a reason to praise the Lord.

As long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to

Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul.

I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? Praise the Lord, oh my soul!