Multitude Monday: Breath

Way, way back in the beginning, God created the world and everything in it.  The light and the darkness, He spoke into existence first.  Then He spoke the water and sky to their places, so complicated that earth science and physics students spend years and lifetimes trying to understand it.


On subsequent days, God's spoken word caused the land and the seas to appear, and  the land blossomed with plants.  He hung the moon and stars and various other objects that are beyond comprehension even in this day of technology and intelligence. He filled the seas with teeming life and covered the land with birds and insects and mammals, each with a job to do.  And it was good.  All good.


By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. Psalm 33:6

 On the sixth day, God created man to rule over, or take care of, His other creations.  But unlike before, He didn't speak man into existence, but with His hands and the new dirt, formed and molded man in His image.  He wasn't done yet.  I wonder, did He hold Adam's head in his hands, look into his eyes?  Did he make some changes, refining this or that, smoothing the clay as all sculptors do?


Did He lean Adam's head back just a little as He breathed life into his nostrils?  With that breath, man became a living creature.  That breath, straight from God, will never cease.  This life we have on earth, living in shells made of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, will end when the circle is complete, but the breath will never end.  It will continue for eternity with God or away from Him, but the breath of God cannot be extinguished.  He is the air we breathe.


All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2Timothy3:16

How can we thank Him for that?  How can we thank Him for. . .
     the air we breathe
     strong lungs to breathe in, breathe out
     clean air
     the physical laws He put into action, so we can breathe without thinking   
     remembering my sons' first cries, first breath
     the moon, controlling the tides and inspiring poetry
     the stars, mysterious, beautiful
     plants for our food
     plants for our healing
     plants for our pleasure
     topsoil     
     trees to shelter us from heat
     trees to build our houses
     trees to raise happy children
     mountains
     rivers
     rocks (I am a rock groupie; ask my students!)
     His dynamic earth
     the seasons
     the way the sun warms my back through the window
     the birds that come to the feeders, colors flashing

     hands covered with age spots, but still strong
     a gift of candy at Sunday School.....a chocolate hug.
     an unexpected gift from a much loved friend
     my friend, Lynn, sharing her coat?


We can never thank Him enough.  We can have a thankful attitude.  Always.


 What a pity it is that this earth, which is so full of the proofs and instances of God's goodness, should be so empty of his praises; and that of the multitudes who live upon his bounty, there are so few who live to his glory!  ~Matthew Henry

Joy Dare 76-100