Imago Dei

'God created humankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them, male and female He created them.' ~ Genesis 1:27 (NET Bible)

Paintings don't paint themselves. Sculptures cannot mold themselves. Neither songs nor poems are able to write themselves. 

You & I didn't create ourselves either. We didn't appear on this planet randomly, the circumstantial results of the Big Bang Theory. We simply didn't just materialize on this planet like the various 'away team' crew members did on weekly episodes of Star Trek. 

We were intentionally created, carefully woven & spun, lovingly molded & fashioned, with brushstrokes, fingerprints and lyrical storylines unique to us, by the Master Artist, the Creator Extraordinaire: God. Our Father. 

In The Living Bible, throughout the Creation story in Genesis 1, the phrase which pops up at the end of each day's descriptions is 'and God was pleased.' Except at the end of Day 6; instead, for this particular day on which man & woman were brought & breathed into existence, made in the ‘Imago Dei’ – the image of God -- these words were spoken:

'Then God looked over all that He had made, & it was excellent in every way.' ~ Genesis 1:31, TLB

Did you catch that? Don't skim over it. EXCELLENT. In EVERY way. 

So why, when we look in the mirror, do we hate what we see? We bemoan our freckles or lack of them. We're embarrassed over that gap in our front teeth or that much too prominent birthmark or our protruding nose. We complain about our eye color; our curly or poker straight hair; our too thin or too thick lips.

Millions of dollars are spent each year on products & services that promise to make us look better, younger, more attractive. Flawless.  And completely different.  We can suddenly find ourselves unrecognizable. Why do we desire to look like anyone but ourselves?

Could it be possible that the very thing which you so despise about yourself is that very thing which God wildly adores about you? Because HE created you that way? 

You are fearfully & wonderfully made. You are unique. You are beautiful. You are God's lovingly created masterpiece: His artwork, His sculpture, His poem, His song.

Never forget that you bear the signature of the Divine.

'For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully & wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.' ~ Psalm 139:13-16, NIV

Your Will Be Done

This morning, while I was searching for something else, my Bible flipped open to Matthew 6, and my eyes fell onto this well-known, oft recited passage:

"This, then, is how you should pray:
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'" ~ Jesus, from Matthew 6:9, NIV

A few minutes ago, I came upon this video on K-LOVE radio's website, by Tenth Avenue North's lead singer, Mike Donehey, speaking on....The Lord's Prayer.  Coincidence?  I think not. 

My will....or God's will be done, here on earth as in heaven?  Sometimes, God has to pry open the hands of His beloved, yet strong-willed child to remove whatever we are holding onto so tightly.  Whatever is keeping us from doing His will.  Because whatever He has to give us; whatever He has for us to do, wherever He has for us to go is so much better, although we might not see it that way at the time. 

How many times in my life, this past month -- okay, let me be completely real here --this past WEEK!!! -- have my fists been closed tightly around something or other (or someone) that I deemed as MINE, refusing to surrender to my Father? How many times have I rebelled against God, wanting to do my own thing?  How many times have I refused to walk down the path created for me by Him, choosing instead to run in the opposite direction, because it wasn't where I wanted to go?  What a struggle it has been for me to let go, to surrender, to obey.  To choose HIS will, and not mine.

As Mike reminds us here in this video, even Jesus struggled with surrendering to the will of His Father.  Right there, on a dark night, in the garden of Gethsemane:

"Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.'  

He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.' "  ~ Jesus, from Matthew 26:39; 42, NIV

This world truly holds NOTHING for us. God HAS everything.  God IS everything. As the Father loves His Son, so also does He love us with an 

unfailing

unconditional

unchanging

unfathomable

LOVE

What are you struggling to hold onto today that you need to surrender to our Father? Please don't wait until He has to pry it out of your hand(s). Let go and let God's will be done in your life.