Breath of Life
"Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person." (Genesis 2:7 NLT)
As soon as I added this name of God to my master list, I knew which story I wanted to use to illustrate it. This is not my story; it belongs to one of my precious Bible study sisters, and I'm sharing it here with her permission and blessing.
Her name is Tricia, but her beloved grandfather always pronounced her name so that it sounded more like "Thrhesha." She never understood why, thinking maybe it had something to do with his hearing...or the fact that he seldom wore his false teeth.
A few years ago, Tricia was doing a Bible study on the Patriarchs and came across the story of Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham. She learned that the Hebrew letter "he" (transliterated into English as "ha") was added to Abram's name to change it to Abraham. The Hebrew "he" is a breathing-out sound, so in essence, the Breath of Life breathed Himself into Abram to transform him into Abraham.
Tricia then came to a question in the study that asked what her name would be if God breathed into it as He had into Abram. When Tricia wrote it out, she read, "T-R-I-H-E-C-I-A." And when she spoke it out loud, she heard once again her name as her grandfather had pronounced it all those years ago...sweet confirmation that God had indeed breathed His life into her.
Dear friends, the Breath of Life has breathed Himself into you, too. As you're inhaling and exhaling today, let the significance of that fill you up. You are not an accident. You are not a fluke. You are the on-purpose, for-a-purpose creation of God Most High. And when you breathe in the Spirit of God through faith, you, like Abram-turned-Abraham, will never be the same again.
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!