The Breath of Life
“Then the Lord God formed a 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, NIV)
We live in a world filled with people who have no fear of God reflected in the way they live. As we can see from the above verse, our very life—every breath and every heartbeat—are sourced in God.
“In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:10, NIV)
“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4, NIV)
“And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:25, NIV)
We are talking about the power of life that belongs to God. It makes sense that created people should pay deference to their Creator.
There is a general saying that one should not bite the hand that feeds you. It does not make sense to offend the one who can literally shut our breath of life off at any given moment.
However, the world continues not to listen even though the Lord is turning up the volume with the increasing turmoil we are witnessing. He seems to be asking, “Do you hear me now? Do you hear me now?”
In the time of Daniel, King Belshazzar (the last king of Babylon) failed to learn from his father, Nebuchadnezzar, who finally honored God after being broken.
“At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.” (Daniel 4:34, NIV)
During a drunken party, Belshazzar profaned the vessels brought from the temple in Jerusalem.
Daniel the prophet said, “Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” (Daniel 5:23, NIV) That night Belshazzar was murdered.
We have to be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Our body is the temple of God. “For in him we live and move and have our being.” As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” (Acts 17:28, NIV)
By practicing the concepts of KingdomNomics, we honor and serve the King of Kings.
Today, ask yourself:
Am I living a life that honors my Creator? Am I investing my life in what will count for eternity?