Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watch word for today is taken from Genesis Chapter 2 verse 7, “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being,” (NRSVB). The psalmist exclaims that God has made us wonderfully. We are each an intricate masterpiece, planned before the beginning of the ages (Psalm 139:13). When God looked at His creation He saw that it was good. When Adam was created God proclaimed that this creation was very good, the crown of God’s artwork. God used the material He made, the ground, and He implanted life through His own spirit, His breath! It is vivifying to think that we are God-breathed; we have of God’s own living and eternal Spirit within us as mortals. In the flesh, we are human and have to die, but in the spirit, through God, we have become immortal. People strive to attain immortality on earth, however, this earth, this ground, will not stay forever, but the spirit of each human has already attained immortality, for we have life ever-lasting. Just as the plants and the creatures of the earth have their season to live and their season to die, so have humans. We will return to the earth, the soil that we are made of. In the creation narrative God called the first human Adam, a word derived from the Hebrew word for soil, or earth. Our attention is drawn to the connection between humans and the soil, the ground. Life is supported by resources we harvest from the soil. Ultimately we will be swallowed by the soil and return to the earth from where we came. The Apostle Paul uses this image in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter 15 verse 54, and says that Christ has swallowed up death in His victory over death, His resurrection. We therefore do not live by bread alone, meaning, all those commodities that we receive from the earth. We live from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, the spiritual nourishment that God gives us, the words “breathed” by God. Our spirit is not confined to the earth, but soars to scale the heights and depths of life in, of and with God’s Spirit.
Humans’ greatest fear is death. Currently we are seeing the world wrestling a formidable fight against a deadly virus. We are reminded of our mortality as the death counts are published daily of those who have succumbed to the virus. Life and death seem to be at enmity with each other. Daniel was doomed to death, being thrown in the lions’ den, for he continued to pray to God in a time when it was prohibited by decree. King Darius fasted and could not sleep because of Daniel’s deathly situation. He rushed out early in the morning and hoped against hope, as he shouted at the mouth of the den, “Daniel, servant of the Living God, is Your God able to deliver you?” Daniel called out to the King, “My God has sent His angel and has shut the mouths of the lions!” (Daniel 6: 20 to 22). God is still the living God, He is still able to deliver, and He does. God is able to shut all the mouths, the abilities that things have, to harm and destroy His children. The Apostle John wrote to Gaius, a leader in the church of the first century in his Third Letter, “Beloved Gaius, I pray that you may prosper in every way and that your body may keep well, even as I know your soul keeps well and prospers,” (III John 1:2). John is praying that Gaius’ body will continue to be in the same good health as his soul. The feeding and nourishing of the soul not only preserve the soul, but also the body, for it grows hope and a spirit of peaceful calm. Let us wait in prayerful anticipation for the Lord to shut the mouths of those things that roar and threaten to devour our bodies and harm our souls.
Father, thank you that You are concerned about our health and well-being; You protect and heal the world. Bring Your peace and calm in this time of the pandemic and strengthen the hands and hearts of your children. We pray in the Name of Jesus, Amen.