Please, Breathe On Me

“So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”

John 20:21-22


In a day when we are going to great links to be extremely cautious about breathing on other people due to the coronavirus I am reminded that life actually began doing the very opposite. We read in Genesis 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” that it was God breathing into Adam that made him come to life to begin with. You can almost picture God performing CPR thousands of years before man discovered it when He held the lifeless body of Adam in his arms and breathed His breath, the very breath of God into man bringing Adam to life. God provided the breath of life long before ventilators were ever invented.

More than a ventilator, We need Jesus to breathe for us daily. God’s Word is like a breath of fresh air, food for our soul as Job declared, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Job went on to say, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4). In John’s gospel we read that Jesus purposefully breathed on His disciples to transmit the gift of the Holy Spirit to them. The same way God in the book of Genesis turned a dirt clod into a man, (sorry men but its true. We are nothing more than dirt clods that God breathed His life into bringing us to life. Women on the other hand were fashioned from a rib) breath is critical to life. It’s often said when a person passes away, “they breathed their last”, or “they took their last breath.” Breathing has always been associated with living. Sometimes in life we just need to be reminded, “just breathe”.

We are wise to practice safe distancing these days and to limit our direct long term contact with people to reduce the chances of catching and or spreading the coronavirus. We should disinfect our hands and sanitize everything we touch for the most part these days out of precaution and because its just good hygiene. Most of all we should wear masks that cover our nose and mouth out in public that prevent the spread of airborne bacteria. These things are just smart for this season of life we are living to reduce the spread of disease. But what we should not cease doing even in the middle of the corona pandemic is being a breath of fresh air to the people in need, like pretty much everyone we come in contact. Sharing God’s Word, sharing His love, and His life with others is like providing them oxygen for their soul.

We are even more wise if we remember that every breath we breathe today is a gift from God, the giver and the sustainer of life. Let’s make the best use our breath today seeking to bring glory to God by bringing life to others. Leave those you speak with today thinking to themselves after you go, “they were like a breath of fresh air.” Stress has away of causing us all to take short breaths instead of long slow deep ones. Here’s something helpful you can do today. Remind the people you love that one of God’s best stress relievers we can enjoy is to just sit quietly, and breathe deeply! I want to remind you in these stress filled times we are living, take a couple of minutes for yourself today and just sit or stand still with your arms stretched out wide and breathe. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out remembering all the while as you do…


“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!”

Psalm 150:6


I LOVE YOU!