READ: Genesis 2:1-7
If I were to scoop up a handful of dirt and blow into it, all I would get is a dirty face. When God did it, He got a living, breathing human being capable of thinking, feeling, dreaming, loving, reproducing, and living forever.
As one of these human beings, I speak of “catching” my breath, “holding” my breath, or “saving” my breath, but these are idioms of language. I cannot save my breath for use at a later time. If I don’t use the one I have now, I’ll lose it, and I may even lose consciousness.
When God breathed into Adam, He gave more than life; He gave a reason to live: Worship! As the psalmist said, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Ps. 150:6).
This means that we waste our breath when we use it for something that doesn’t honor the One in whom “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Although we cannot blow life into a handful of dirt, we can use our breath to speak words of comfort, to sing songs of praise, and to run to help the sick and oppressed. When we use our breath to honor our Creator with our unique combination of talents, abilities, and opportunities, we will never be wasting it.
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do. —Hatch
