God-Breathed

It’s been called the “kiss of life” and has saved countless people who have stopped breathing. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was first publicly advocated by an English physician, William Hawes, in the mid-1700s. For a year, he paid a reward to anyone who brought him the body of someone who had drowned (within a reasonable amount of time). He eventually set up the Royal Humane Society with training and life-saving apparatus, mostly in ports and coastal towns where the risk of drowning was highest.

Insufflations, also called “rescue breaths,” force air into a person’s respiratory system. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training recommends first checking for circulation (a pulse), then checking for breathing, and then, if necessary, performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Many organizations recommend the use of a pocket mask to minimize the risk of cross infection. Breathing for someone else can save a life.

God first breathed the breath of life into Adam at Creation. But there is another type of breathing that describes how writers of the Holy Scriptures worked. Today’s Bible verse says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” The Greek word for this process is theo-pneustos and means “God- breathed.” The Word of God is “profitable” because God Himself breathed life into it.

Even though revelations were written down in human language, they are still God’s messages. It was not so much that the words were inspired; rather, the writers were inspired. These men did not flip on a digital voice recorder to capture God’s exact words. Writers often did write God’s exact words, but in most cases, they wrote in their own language what they saw or heard through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through God’s life-giving Spirit, we have received in the Bible life-saving truths.

Apply It:

Watch a short video (or read a short description) on how to conduct CPR. Then pray for the Holy Spirit to use you to save others, both physically and spiritually.

Dig Deeper:

Exodus 4:14-16; Numbers 23:5; Deuteronomy 18:18

Key Bible Texts

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16 KJV)