The Breath of God

Can you imagine forgetting to breathe? No way! Your body cannot function without air and will quickly let you know when the supply is cut off! Imagine you are swimming in a swimming pool and you see something shiny reflecting from the bottom of the pool. You dive down to the drain to see what it is and while investigating you get your finger stuck in the drain! This is not good! You try not to panic, but a shot of fear pulses through your brain. You pull against the drain but you are wedged in pretty tight. The lack of air is starting to be a problem, so you exhale what little air you have left in you and push with your feet against the bottom to break free. The swim to the surface is agonizing as your chest is constricting and your head is pounding due to the lack of air! At last you break the surface of the water and are able to breathe in deeply the only thing you really care about at the moment—AIR!!!

We were created with the vital need of air intake! There is no getting around it—without it we will perish! Interestingly, one of the pictures of Scripture is of God breathing out His word for our intake so that we might be “adequately equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17). This image is intended to show us how important it is for us to have a consistent intake of God’s word! How can one live without the breath of God?

With this in consideration, our look at the influence of Josiah this morning and his reaction to the discovery of the Book of the Law is undeniably significant. As we talk about the incredible legacy Josiah is remembered by, one of the keys that brought this about is the respect and value he gives to the word of God—this is LIFE! Josiah was in touch with this and his heart was moved when God’s word was read in his presence.

How is your heart doing? One of the great warnings found in the book of Hebrews (3:12-13) says this: “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” In Josiah’s time they had gone through several kings who had not heeded this warning and the nation was close to being destroyed. The Book of the Law had been lost and the nation of Israel was definitely NOT adequately equipped for every good work during that time. However, as we will see this morning, one man stood in the gap and left a powerful example for all of us to learn from. He breathed deeply from the word of God and changed the direction of a nation. Some of the most flattering words stated in the Scriptures are reserved for this man because he understood where life truly came from—the breath of God—His word!

Do you want to build something special as a husband, daddy, wife, mother, child, employee, community member, student, etc.? The life force of this type of legacy comes from God! Breathe in deeply from His word and let it guide you to become all He has created you to be!