Breathing Dust

~Tracy Frederick

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).  Dust, dirt, that’s all we are without the breath that our Father provides each and every time our lungs expand to let it in and to expel the used oxygen that He provided to sustain our bodies. Dust and dirt are what we are without the breath of life. God reminded Adam of this when He rebuked him for his sin and removed him from the garden:” ..For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19. David knew this and wondered at how the mighty Creator was mindful of such small particles of dust Ps 103:14. Perhaps that is why God loved him so much (Acts 13:22).   

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor. Psalm 8: 3-5

It seems very appropriate to me to reflect on this passage now when in a few hours those who are the children of God will gather together as a family to remember the awesome sacrifice given by a Father. It is hard for my feeble mind to understand the kind of love that would sacrifice a son for dust. But that is what makes Him God.