Nostril Breathers
Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?(Isaiah 2:22)
“What account is he?” This means: they don’t count. You don’t need their approval to be who you are or do what you’re supposed to do. They can’t approve of you (or disapprove of you). They don’t count because you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re not your master; they breathe air through their nostrils just like you do.
But they want to convince us that they count. They want our regard. They want us to think that they are higher than we are, that we depend on them, that we must give an account to them. They want us to dress the way they approve and watch what they’re watching and vote the way they vote and order our finances and schedules the way they do. They want that power over us. They want us to think we're accountable to them. They want us to think they don’t breathe air in and out of their nostrils like the rest of us.
And what makes this challenging is that we want to count. We want to be regarded. We’re tempted to regard them if they’ll just regard us. We’ll be able to think higher of ourselves if they’ll think more highly of us. So what do we need to do? We need to think even more higher of them, listen to them and follow their example. And then, if we mimic them closely, they’ll regard us. Then we’ll count, even though we’re just nostril-sucking air-breathers.
But who really counts? Who actually does the counting? Before whom will we all have to give an account? Who truly deserves our great regard?
Who doesn’t breathe and has no nostrils, but gives life and breath to all noses everywhere?
Jesus says in John 5:44, “How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”
Jesus is saying, to use Isaiah’s language, “Why are you regarding other people as if it were to them that you will give an account? What account are they!? They’re going to have to give an account too.” Instead, he goes on to say, “You are accountable to God. He is the One who does the counting. Do you want to count before Him? Good. Seek the glory He can give who alone gives air to nostrils.”
We all breathe our air in the same way, in and out the blow-holes, one breath at a time. But the LORD God breathes into our nostrils the breath of life. (Gen 2:7 [It literally says “nostrils.”]) And He Himself gives to all of us life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:25)
It doesn’t matter how well-coifed their hair is, how smart their suit, how passionate their rhetoric or how tight their reasoning. It doesn’t matter if they have cameras pointed at them. It doesn’t matter if they have groveling masses dressing like them, adoring them, putting their names on t-shirts and signs. If all people go after them, it doesn’t matter.
They don’t do the counting. You’re not accountable to them. What account are they? The LORD does the counting. The LORD counts. The LORD blesses. The LORD gives life and honor and glory. The LORD puts air in your nostrils. Enjoy it. And live for Him.
Photo by Trude Jonsson Stangel on Unsplash
