我们都知道，生命是一份礼物，可是有时我们忘记了。我们受不住社会文化的影响，以致相信我们是自己白手起家的。我们认为：“我今天有这样的成就，完全是我努力奋斗的成果。”
然而，创世记2章却告诉我们一个截然不同的故事。我们本是尘土，是神将生气吹在尘土上，使它得着生命。首先，因为神这样做，我才成为今日的我。我们的每一个呼吸都在乎衪。每一刻我们都倚赖神赐我们这宝贵的生气，才能维系生命。我们不是自己生命的源头，神才是。同时，神也看见人的软弱和挑战。诗篇103篇告诉我们，神记得我们不过是尘土，衪也要我们记着这个事实。当我们这样做时，便会自然而然地产生感谢之心了。 “我的心哪，你要称颂耶和华，凡在我里面的，也要称颂他的圣名。” (诗篇 103:1)
奇妙的是，神不单看到我们的软弱，衪更取了人的样式，亲身经历人的软弱。耶稣本来是神，但当衪活在世上时，衪完全承受了人的限制和软弱。我们之所以有希望，是因为耶稣曾取了像我们一样的肉身，经历死亡，最后复活进入新的生命，现在与神一起在天上掌权。耶稣已经为我们，把那造成肉身的尘土，带进天上宝座之处了。 “我的心哪，你要称颂耶和华！”
永活的神啊，是祢赐给我们生命气息，我们为此满心感谢祢。求祢叫我们永远心存感恩。奉耶稣的名祈求，阿们。
创世记 2:4-7
4创造天地的来历，在耶和华神造天地的日子，乃是这样，
5野地还没有草木，田间的菜蔬还没有长起来；因为耶和华神还没有降雨在地上，也没有人耕地，
6但有雾气从地上腾，滋润遍地。
7耶和华神用地上的尘土造人，将生气吹在他鼻孔里，他就成了有灵的活人，名叫亚当。
"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
Life is a gift. We know that. But sometimes we forget. We give in to cultural pressures prompting us to believe we are self-made. We think, “I am who and where I am because I’ve worked hard to get here.”
Genesis 2 tells a different story. It says that we are dust and that God’s breath animated that dust into life. We are who we are first of all because of the life-breath of God. Our very breath depends on him. Moment to moment we rely on the gracious gift of breath that makes human life possible. God is the constant source of our being, not us. At the same time, God sees our vulnerabilities and the challenges of being human. Psalm 103 tells us that God remembers we are dust. God calls us to remember too. When we do, gratitude happens. “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name” (Psalm 103:1).
Amazingly, God not only sees our vulnerabilities; he also has experienced them in the flesh. When Jesus, who is fully God, lived on this earth, he fully took on the limitations and vulnerabilities of being human. What gives us hope is that Jesus, clothed with our own flesh, died, rose to new life, and is now ruling with God in heaven. The dust from which we were made has entered the heavenly throne room on our behalf. “Praise the LORD, my soul”!
With gratitude in our hearts we thank you, living God, for your breath of life. Make us ever grateful. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
