Breaths. When’s the last time you thought about the breaths you take? Breathing is one of those things we don’t really pay much attention to until we’re “short” of breath or feel “out” of breath altogether. Then, suddenly, very few things matter more. Could I encourage you to take a few deliberate moments to reflect? Slow down. Focus on your breathing. Give a little thought to the everyday inhales and exhales most of us take for granted.
If you got eight hours of sleep last night, you took somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,000 breaths. Remarkable. You were unconscious. Completely checked out. All night long you didn’t give one thought to the inner working of your lungs, and yet here you are, awake and alive because your amazing body was on God-designed autopilot. Stay awake for the next sixteen hours and you’ll breathe in and breathe out more than 15,000 times!
Your Creator gave you your first breath and he’ll be present at your last. You’re living on his planet, breathing his air with the body he gave you. So here’s a worthy question: what will you do with today’s 22,000 breaths? If you’re curious about the best possible answer, consider the last lines of Israel’s ancient songbook, the Psalms of the Old Testament.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD! (Psa 150:6)
Millions and millions of creatures great and small will fulfill that calling in their own God-appointed ways throughout the day. You and I have been similarly called, blessed with the same amazing opportunity. What might it look like to make the most of today’s 22,000?
Sing a song of praise. Whisper a prayer that will be heard in heaven. Share a word of encouragement. Express concern. Comfort as you have been comforted. Teach. Convey forgiveness. Nurture. Show compassion. Admonish. Give thanks. Speak up in defense. Communicate love. Read a chapter of the Bible out loud. Voice appreciation. Embody hope. Live in joyful harmony with the Composer of all good things, to the praise of his glory. Each one of those takes breath. You and I have breath at the moment for a reason. This reason. Let’s not ignore the reason, spurn the Giver, or fail to appreciate the blessing of breath. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
If he wills, we’ll borrow 22,000 of them today. Let’s make the most of them.