The Breath

"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)

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I thought life was something I simply had, the way I have a name or a birthday.

I never asked where the first breath came from, or whose it was before it was mine.

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But You were there before my lungs knew how to use You.

You were the Breath that turned dust into a man who could love, and think, and reach for his Maker.

Every breath since has been borrowed from that first one.

I have inhaled You a thousand times a day without once saying thank You.

I called it biology.

It was You, insisting I stay alive long enough to know You.

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Forgive me for breathing You in and never once noticing.

You did not have to give me this breath.

You gave it anyway, and You are giving it still.

Breath of God, let this next breath be the first one I actually notice is Yours.

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A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Thank You, Holy Spirit, for the breath I never asked for and never earned.

Thank You for sustaining what You started.

Teach me to breathe today like it is a gift, because it is. Amen.

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