Breathe – “In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28)”

Last Sunday my pastor said something in his sermon that caught my attention: “when we breathe deeply, it has been proven that we are saying ‘Yahweh.’” (Sounds like “yäˌwā”). He then had us demonstrate by taking a deep breath where we hear the sound “yah” and then blow it out your nose quickly and you hear “weh.” Yahweh is the Hebrew word for God. So every time we breathe, we are making the sounds of God! He is our life as we need to breathe to live!

The Scriptures make reference to this idea that God’s breathe of life is in us, allowing us to live. In Genesis 2:7 we are reminded that God formed man and breathed life into him. When Paul was speaking to the philosophers in Athens, he explained “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet [God] is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:27-28).”

As we study into the Hebrew term for God, we discover that the term Yahweh is built off of the verb meaning, “I am.” Remember when God declared to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “’I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel; ‘I am has sent me to you.’” The name for God revolves around His eternal existence. God Himself brings life and He is life! Jesus stated in John 10:10 that He came that we “may have life and have it abundantly.” Each of us was given life for a purpose (Psalm 139 and Jeremiah 29:11) – we were designed to live abundantly in God’s Kingdom. As such, we are to use our gifts and talents for the good of the Kingdom – to benefit others, edify or build them up to do great works (1 Cor 14:26).

So as we take time to rest, or as you wake up each morning, ponder the idea that you are breathing – living because of God’s breathe. He has given you life, so will you live it for Him? What are you doing with your life? Are you living up to your potential? Using the gifts and talents God designed you with for His Kingdom?