by Shirley D. Tingle
Have you ever been deprived of air for any length of time? I’m thinking back to my childhood when there were a few incidents that I was fortunate enough to have survived. I imagine if my mother had seen me swinging that high in the swing that we had attached to our carport, I probably would’ve gotten some “heat for the seat.” Instead, I flew out of the swing and fell flat onto my chest, knocking the breath out of me. I couldn’t cry because I couldn’t breathe! I couldn’t call for help either and I could barely even sit up. I was really scared until I finally started to breathe again. What a relief! Lesson learned—the hard way!
Also, as a child my asthma was much worse than it is today. Too much running, pedaling, or other outdoor activities, especially in the cold winter months, triggered attacks. If you have asthma, you know that awful feeling of not being able to breathe. I’m so thankful for medicines that help.
Have you ever helped someone in an emergency situation who couldn’t breathe? When I was teaching fourth grade, I had that experience. It was the day of our Halloween party. We had costumes on and had already passed out treats and candy for everyone to enjoy. I was supervising a game where you had to drop Tootsie Roll Pops that looked like ghosts into a plastic Jack-O-Lantern. All of a sudden, a boy touched me on the arm and then put his hand up to his throat. I asked him if he had swallowed something. He nodded. I turned him around quickly and performed the Heimlich Maneuver. When I did this, a round piece of Halloween candy shot across the room. He turned around and looked at me. He was just fine. I sent him out to the water fountain to get a drink of water. I don’t think anyone even noticed what was going on. I was so relieved that the boy was able to breathe again! That made me very happy.
Genesis 2:7, KJV, tells us this: “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Every inhale and exhale of breath is a gift from God. And all of us must breathe in order to live.
Why is it then that there are some people today in our society who don’t value the breath of life? Where did it all go so wrong? What happened to innocence, civility, common courtesy, respect for authority, and respect for the rights and lives of others? Why is it okay for someone to take what belongs to you, hurt you, and take your last breath away?
If the population isn’t being fed the “Bread of Life,” then they’re being fed something else. Evil is real, and Satan works overtime to spread his lies until they’re thought of as being the truth. What’ll happen if godlessness continues? Will God’s Word, the Bible, be banned and burned? Will a whole generation be raised up not knowing who God is and living in complete lawlessness, rebellion, and wickedness? Such scary thoughts.
We must get back to the very foundation of our being. We wouldn’t exist if God hadn’t created us. Acts 17:25, KJV, says that “he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” This must be taught. This must be believed. This must be recognized with praise, thanksgiving, and obedience to God’s commands. If God gave us life, then it belongs to Him. We have no right to unlawfully take the life, the breath, and all things from anyone else because those were given by God.
Each breath of life is precious. Each heartbeat brings us one step closer to the end of our physical life here on earth. Each day is a special gift for us to do as much good as we can, and share our love for God, and His Son, Jesus Christ, with others.
In the recent events that have taken place, (and that were made such a spectacle of by the media), our hearts and minds were shocked, saddened, and incensed at the brutal, barbaric, and inhuman treatment of George Floyd. It was actually a merciless, televised murder, in my opinion. So many things were wrong. I still can’t believe it happened. I can’t believe what I saw with my own eyes—a man who literally had his last breath taken from him while he was begging for breath and calling for his mother. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. This should never have happened, and it should never happen again—to anyone, anywhere!
The aftermath has been a complete nightmare of terror for the whole country, seemingly giving license to destroy, steal, burn, deface, and kill. How does this help anyone? Does it help the cause that they are promoting? Two wrongs don’t make a right. Or better still, “Be angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil,” Ephesians 4:26-27, KJV. If only the protests had been “peaceable,” calm, and had stayed on the subject of George Floyd. It all turned so ugly and unrecognizable—so dark, so evil, so unlawful. Even Mr. Floyd’s family pleaded for all the looting, burning, vandalism, and killing to stop, What disrespect. The breath of life means absolutely nothing to so many people.
Looking back to the cross, the greatest event of all time, when Christ freely gave His life for the sins of all mankind, we see the brutal, merciless murder of our Lord and Savior. Our Lord had already endured a savage beating, being flogged by the Romans’ whips that cut and ripped the skin of his back and legs. Then He was laid on the cross and had heavy spikes driven into his wrists and feet. Unimaginable pain. But some have speculated that the actual cause of our Savior’s death was asphyxiation. In the book The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel, the author gives a vivid, horrific description of what happens to the human body during a crucifixion. Mr. Strobel interviewed Alexander Metherell, M.D., PhD., on the subject of crucifixion for one of his chapters. Here is what Dr. Metherell said about the “cause of death” of our Lord:
“Once a person is hanging in the vertical position,” he replied, “crucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation.
“The reason is that the stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put the chest into an inhaled position; basically, in order to exhale, the individual must push up on his feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment. In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot, eventually locking up against the tarsal bones.
“After managing to exhale, the person would then be able to push himself down and take another breath in. Again, he’d have to push himself up to exhale, scraping his bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross. This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and the person wouldn’t be able to push up and breathe anymore.
“As the person slows down his breathing, he goes into what is called respiratory acidosis—the carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbonic acid, causing the acidity of the blood to increase. This eventually leads to an irregular heartbeat. In fact, with his heart beating erratically, Jesus would have known that he was at the moment of death, which is when he was able to say, ‘Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ And then he died of cardiac arrest.” [The Case For Christ, by Lee Strobel, pp. 198-199].
Oh, how glad we are that the story doesn’t end there! The Lord’s last breath on earth was only the beginning. Three days later God resurrected His Son—He lives! Christ taught us how to live, how to get through the valley of death, and showed us that there’s a Great Day coming when we’ll be resurrected just as He was.
When we take our last breath on this earth, we want to make sure of our eternal abode. Christ said in John 14:1-3, KJV: “Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
When Christ returns, those that belong to Him will meet Him in the air. I Thessalonians 4:16-17, KJV, says: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
While we still have the breath of life in us, there is hope. Living the Christian life and enjoying all that God has given us—one breath at a time, and, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men,” Romans 12:18, KJV, because the breath of life is a gift from God.