breath in my lungs
You know the song “Great Are You Lord” by All Sons and Daughters? One of the lyrics in the song caught my attention. “It’s Your breath in our lungs/ So we pour out our praise…we pour out our praise to You only.” For some reason, those lyrics really resonated with me deeply this time, they gave me chills. I instantly wanted to dive into what that means. On the surface, we know what it means. But hearing made me ask, “If it’s His breath in our lungs, why am I not praising him with every breath I have?”
Let’s back up a bit. Genesis 2:7 says, “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.” So without God, we would still be dust on the ground. This is the same God that breathed the stars into the sky. The same God who created the beautiful sunsets we awe of. The same God who created everything beautiful around you.
There’s nothing spectacular about what man is made of, only in the way those things were organized. In Genesis 2:7, the bible uses “dust” figuratively. Meaning something of little worth, associated with lowliness and humility. With his divine breath, man became a living being. Only man is the only living being made in the image of God.
Everything that comes out of our mouths should be a reflection of His breath in us. Direct praise to the one who gave us life. The word for breath in Hebrew is ruach, this is the same word for spirit. This is the same in ancient Greek and Latin. What’s cool about the word ruach, is that the word imitates the very sound of breath. God created man by putting His breath, His Spirit, within us.
What an honor it is to be made in the image of the one and only creator. How beautiful is it to use the breath that He put in our lungs to praise Him? I won’t lie, there are times when what’s coming out of my mouth isn’t praising God. I’m human, you’re human, it happens. But it’s so important that we strive in every moment and situation to use the breath that comes out of our lungs to praise Him. He gave it to us in the first place.
It’s also important to simply praise Him for the breath in our lungs. There are times when it may feel like you have nothing else to praise Him for or that you don’t have the strength to praise Him, but one of the many ways we can praise Him is by simply thanking him for the air in our lungs.
Lord, thank you for the air in my lungs! For the gift that it is to have been made in your image, to have been brought from dust to life! TYJ!!!!
