Home  Ministries Adult Men dc 05/05/08
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dc 05/05/08 |
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written by Nate Pruitt
Genesis 2:19 "So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the
animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them
to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called
each living creature, that was its
name."
Creativity is such an amazing gift. Each of us has at least some
way we can be creative, and this is intentional by God. Here God
allows Adam to name every living thing. God isn't just forcing His
views on Adam, He's encouraging Adam to express himself and (when
done right) that will glorify God. Creativity has been a consuming
thought for me lately, because it seems the generation before me is
slowing in creativity, and the generation behind me (for example
the teens I am helping lead) have almost lost the ability
altogether. These are negative aspects of our tightly packaged,
time consumed lifestyles. The truth is that this is a clear and
dangerous hindrance to our ability to worship God. He loves to see
the gifts He has given us be turned back to His glory. I've found
it curious, but for some reason I have never heard Genesis 1:26-27
taught as a passage on how man was also made to be creative.
"Then God said, "Let us make people in our
image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life;
the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock,
wild animals, and small animals." So God created people in his own
image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created
them."
From this passage any minister I've heard use it
immediately leaves the chapter to go find characteristics of the
image of God that he/she can relate to man. There's nothing wrong
with that, but it does seem to miss a certain obvious thing- God,
at this point in the Bible, has only one characteristic- Creator.
Not only that, but the direction Adam is given is not absolute, but
open, so that Adam can name the animals as he is inspired, there
was probably even freedom given him as to how he tended the garden.
This was no prison, it was paradise. I'm sure most of us would
view paradise as a place where we have some freedom, and freedom
means we can be creative, and being creative means that regardless
of what we bring to God (and everyone who reads this will have
distinctly different gifts, thoughts and passions) it can be a
fitting offering if we have a heart of service and worship before
God. My encouragement, then, is that we all seek out the time where
we can be creative, be intentional about finding rest, maybe come
home and allow your mind to relax, rather than just filling it with
the creativity killing fumes of packaged entertainment on the tube.
If we allow our gifts to grow, and let them grow with a purpose of
praising God, then our joy will increase and maybe, just maybe,
someone will look at us and think- "That's the image of love I've
been looking for," because we will be aspiring to live in the image
of the Creator.
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