There was a time when nothing generated more fear than the prospect of contracting polio, a paralyzing virus. If polio attacked a victim’s lungs, the experience was excruciating and death almost inevitable. In 1927, a Harvard researcher named Philip Drinker assembled a contraption using an electric motor, two vacuum cleaners, and a tank respirator. Dubbed the “iron lung,” his invention saved thousands of lives. Polio sufferers were placed in the iron lung, typically for one or two weeks, so that the machine could breathe for them until the virus ran its course.

I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.

Isaiah 43:11

It is a blessing to live in an era of incredible medical advances that make life better and longer. Yet, as the prophet Isaiah writes, it is only God who breathes life into every human being. He is the Lord! Every heartbeat and every breath is a gift from God. It is the Creator you must regard, not the created.

Pray today that God will breathe new life into America’s citizens and leaders in the coming year. May they hear His life-giving words from today’s verse and be saved by them.

Recommended Reading: Isaiah 43:1-12