There is a phrase I use on occasion that usually annoys my wife. Probably because I often use it around her in a less than uplifting context. This phrase is "connect the dots." Like the famous puzzles that my oldest daughter is beginning to enjoy, you see a series of numbered dots on a page that when followed in the correct order combine to form a hidden picture that you cannot see otherwise. I believe sometimes God gives us the dots on certain truths throughout scripture, and His Spirit reveals the whole at times that He deems we will be most receptive to them; He "connects the dots" for us.
This morning, he did that for me as I have continued my reading through The Journey of Desire. In Genesis 1:26-27, we read that we are created in His image. Often times we see this expressed when we watch children at play. Os Guinness notes that, "Sometimes we human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us." Eldredge goes on to explain that our children have various gifting specialties. "But whatever their specialty, all children are inherently creative." Later he writes, "It comes naturally to children; it's in their nature, their design as little image bearers." That may be the reason that we see pictures of Jesus loving kids; He could see what was first intended for us before it is lost with age and "maturity." Maybe that is why He says we must come to Him in childlike faith.
After He created man, He set them down in "a paradise of unlimited potential." In turn, we are most at home when we are doing what we were created to do and doing it to bring Him glory. I know I always feel closest to God when I am engaged in music. Something in me takes over and I find myself lost in an almost ethereal plane and I am connected to my Creator, and this does not happen to me in any other action. For you, that may be teaching, painting, building, or for whatever you were wired. Nevertheless, we bear His image in the unique way that is ours and ours alone.
Maybe I am missing this altogether, but it really causes me to realize the significance of being made in the image of God.
This morning, he did that for me as I have continued my reading through The Journey of Desire. In Genesis 1:26-27, we read that we are created in His image. Often times we see this expressed when we watch children at play. Os Guinness notes that, "Sometimes we human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us." Eldredge goes on to explain that our children have various gifting specialties. "But whatever their specialty, all children are inherently creative." Later he writes, "It comes naturally to children; it's in their nature, their design as little image bearers." That may be the reason that we see pictures of Jesus loving kids; He could see what was first intended for us before it is lost with age and "maturity." Maybe that is why He says we must come to Him in childlike faith.
After He created man, He set them down in "a paradise of unlimited potential." In turn, we are most at home when we are doing what we were created to do and doing it to bring Him glory. I know I always feel closest to God when I am engaged in music. Something in me takes over and I find myself lost in an almost ethereal plane and I am connected to my Creator, and this does not happen to me in any other action. For you, that may be teaching, painting, building, or for whatever you were wired. Nevertheless, we bear His image in the unique way that is ours and ours alone.
Maybe I am missing this altogether, but it really causes me to realize the significance of being made in the image of God.
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