“The Lord God formed the 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, NIV).

A few years ago, a family of five went to a cabin in the mountains for a short Christmas vacation. One evening they shut all the windows tight in order to keep cold air from coming in, and they turned the furnace on full blast in order to keep the cabin warm through the bitter night.
The only problem? The whole family died because the furnace had used up all the oxygen in their air!
As most of us know, we can live a few weeks without food, a few days without water, but only a few minutes without air.
Air, clear pure air, is vital to our existence. Impure, polluted air is the cause of many acute and chronic disease conditions often attributed to other causes. Every year millions of people, especially children, suffer terribly because of breathing polluted air.
With oxygen going to every organ of our body, it is no wonder we need air as fresh and as clean as possible.
The good news about fresh air is that not only is it free, in most cases people can have access to it.

The earth at that point was chaotic; there was darkness, a void, formlessness. However difficult for us to understand exactly what was present or what was happening, it is clear that there was no created life at this time on the earth. Yet, even amid this primeval chaos, God’s presence is made manifest. This is revealed in the words, “and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” We can, for now, only speculate on what that means.
According to the texts, over the next few days God began the process of preparing the earth for life. Genesis 1:3–10 shows us part of this process. Notice the recurrence of separation and division. God separates light from darkness, God separates the waters of the firmament, God separates the land from water. All the way through there are these major divisions of these prime elements. After these initial divisions have been completed, God then brings forth the first life on earth.
1. The Creation account teaches that the Creation was a very orderly, planned, and meticulously executed event. It leaves no room for chance of any kind. What does that tell us about the character and power of God? How could this realization about God help you in whatever struggles you might be going through now?
2. How often do you take advantage of fresh air? What changes can you make that would give you more access to it? Sometimes it would take nothing more than opening a window.
Read Genesis 1:26. What does this imply about our responsibility to the created world we have been given?
3. What can you learn about the atmosphere of heaven from these texts? Job 38:6, 7; Pss. 103:20–22; 148:2; Luke 15:7; Rev. 21:4.
4. What kind of atmosphere surrounds you? That is, your words, your demeanor, your attitudes; are they more reflective of the lowlands of earth or of the promises of heaven? What does your answer tell you about yourself and your need to change?