Thursday Reflection January 21, 2021

Thursday Reflection

January 21, 2021

The breath of life

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 NRSV

Greeting Friends!

What is humanity without God? The answer to that question is nothing. Our text for today takes us to the creation story in Genesis chapter 2. We are told in this account that in the day when God made the heavens and the earth there was no plant on the earth for God had not yet caused it to rain upon the earth.

However, the Lord allowed a stream to rise up on the whole face of the earth and water the earth. It is at this point that the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostril the breath of life and the man became a living being.

Friends, as we examine verse 7 there are a few points I want to share with us.

1.) We were formed
As a child growing up watching cartoons, we were taught babies were delivered to parents by a stork. We would see the stork flying holding the baby by its diapers and then delivering them to parents who had requested them. As you got older you realized that babies did not come from storks but from your parents through intercourse.

But as I continued thinking about this I realized there must have been an origin point and this is it. We were formed by God. I can just imagine God as an expert sculptor taking his time to ensure that every organ and intricate detail was sculpted properly. God formed us.

2.) We’re equal

God the expert sculptor formed us from dust. We all have the same material that made us and that is dust. God took dust from the ground and made us. Therefore, we are all coming from the same place. Some weren’t made from the stream, or the clouds or from the trees. No! We were made from dust. The name Adam is translated man or humanity. So God made humanity from dust. Therefore, if we all are from dust then we all are equal. No one is greater or better than the other. God formed us from dust.

3.) God breathed life

Humanity have many creation. Some of these creations have become part of our everyday life and we cannot do without. But of all the creation that humanity has made they cannot breathe life into them. God took his creation that he made from dusk, but it was not complete. All He had was a form of man but it was lacking. So He breathe life into his creation. The breath of life that caused what was considered lifeless to now be alive. This dust formed man and became into a living being. Man can now breathe, think, live and operate on “it’s own”, even though the truth is we still need God for every aspect of life.

I want to look at this breath of life from another aspect as well. Many of us feel that we are facing situations that are dead or just there but nothing is happening. I want to remind you that the Lord has the breath of life to breathe into any situation that is considered lifeless and give it life. God can breath on any condition thought to be dying and make it live again.

So back to my original question what is humanity without God. The answer we are nothing; not even dust. What is humanity with God? We’re living beings. What is your situation without God? It’s nothing. What is it with God? It is alive and well.

Ask God to breathe the breath of life into your dead situations and see how they change to living situations of hope, joy and peace

Shalom

Christopher Euphfa