by Faith Blanchard on Youversion 

Breath of Wonder

What did that first breath feel like? Did Adam’s body shake and rattle like the bones coming together in the valley of dry bones? Did he cough and cry like a baby at birth? Was the oxygen so rich that he experienced a euphoric high? Did his eyes squint at the blinding glory of God’s presence face-to-face with him? Oh, so many questions.

No birth since then has been the same, and yet every breath we take comes from the same source—God. Polluted air may envelop us nowadays, but the breath inside that makes us a living soul is pure and holy. Our first breath is a gift of life from God Himself.

Adam not only had the wonder within but also lived in a garden of wonder. In the first seconds of his life, all five senses were on overload—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling the amazing, overwhelming aspects of paradise. Perhaps it was so beautiful that it was almost too much for him to take in at once.

“So what went wrong?” we may wonder. “How could two people forfeit wonderland for a snack?” We should learn from their mistake instead of judging them for it.

Paul’s teaching in Romans 1 helps us understand the tragedy of Adam and Eve. He wrote of how they knew God but wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. Instead they thought up foolish ideas of what God was like, and so their minds became dark and confused. At some point Adam and Eve must have taken God for granted. Otherwise they would not have believed the foolish ideas presented to them by the serpent. Our worship and gratitude for the God of wonders greatly influences our thinking.

There is good news! You do not have to wait for reconciliation as Adam did. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. His death, burial and resurrection reopened the gates of paradise for you. He—the Wonder-worker—is your way back to paradise.

Questions to Ponder: What do you need to confess to God today to find reconciliation? How does your worship and gratitude for God affect how you think?

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 2:15‭-‬17

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Romans 1:21

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.

Romans 1:28

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Romans 5:10