God’s Breath
Several years ago, I had the misfortune of coming down with a case of bacterial meningitis. I was one sick puppy. They flew me from Harrisonburg hospital to VCU hospital. I was on a ventilator that facilitated my breathing. The doctor at Harrisonburg got me on the right antibiotic and after about ten days, I fully recovered.
Now I can take a deep breath and thank God I am able to breathe on my own. It’s so easy to focus on the things we want and forget that sometimes the smallest things in life can be the greatest miracles.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 tells the story of Ezekiel’s vision. God showed the prophet that only He could give life to dry bones. Even after tendons, flesh, and skin appeared, “there was no breath in them” (v. 8). It was only when God gave them breath that they would live again. (v. 10)
In Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, two words seem to set the scene – bones and breath(e). These two words describe the dialogue between what Ezekiel sees and what God does. The word “bone(s)” is repeated 12 times in these verses. The death shown to Ezekiel by the Spirit of God is that of long dead – no skin, muscle, or tendons are left. The dry bones are no longer connected to each other. The contrast to dry bones is the promise of God’s breath. It alone undoes death. It was only when the breath of God entered them that they became a living army again.
This vision illustrated God’s promise to restore Israel from devastation. The days I had bacterial meningitis, remind me how my life is useless unless God gives me breath. We need to all thank God for the blessing of life this day. We need to stop occasionally and take a deep breath, and “let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150:6)
Prayer – Thank you, God for every breath You give me. Thank you for the smallest of things in life and the greatest miracles of life. Amen.
Ezekiel 37:6 – “I will put breath in you.”
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Images: iStock Photos, Jon Tyson & Robert Collins, courtesy of Unsplash