The Breath of God
“Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
Genesis 2:7 (ESV)
Your breath, even now as you read, is not an automatic mechanism left to itself. The Bible does not use the word breath by chance: it is the same word that designates the Spirit of God (ruach in Hebrew, pneuma in Greek). When you breathe without thinking, you are receiving a continuous gift. You do not hold yourself up — you are being held.
This is also the breath that revived the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision, and that lifted up the apostles at Pentecost. The same God who animates you today can revive what seems dead in you. A buried calling, a worn-out joy, a hope that has fallen silent.
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
Ezekiel 37:9 (ESV)
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Job 33:4 (ESV)
When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
Psalm 104:30 (ESV)