Recognizing God as Creator

From the time we were wee little tots we have been drilled in church with recognizing God as the creator. We have all made those cute little crafts with handprints that say, "God made me special!" In fact Colin has memorized the right answers to this daily conversation that we have.

Me: Colin, who made you?
Colin: God
Me: How did he make you?
Colin: Special!

When he wants to be humorous and shake things up a bit, he will replace the word 'God' with 'Carley' and 'Special' with 'Goofy.' There is much truth in that second answer...

Anyway, I think because we have been taught this at such a young age that is unable to process complexity, its become nothing more to us as adults than it is for Colin right now. Its a memorized concept. We know God made us and made the universe and we choose to leave the thought at that. Heaven forbid we ever think further and stretch that thought from a memorized saying to possibly a new outlook on life.

Why should we recognize God as creator? Well why should we recognize anyone for who they are? Because we treat people differently depending on who we recognize them as. As a child you did not treat your best friend and the principal of your school the same way. You recognized that your principal had authority over you, and had power to do whatever they judged was best, and that they were just a heck of alot smarter than you were!

Why do we not think of God in this same way? Recognizing God for who he is as the creator changes alot of things.

1. You know longer see yourself as the one who knows you best. You see God as that.

2. Because of the above statement, you make decisions differently too. Instead of basing your decisions on what you want or how you feel, it would only make sense to consult with the one who made you and already knows your thoughts and desires and knows whats best for you.

3. You will begin to be a better steward. You acknowledge that your stuff, your family, your accomplishments, and even the brilliant ideas and thoughts you've had... are not yours! You didn't make yourself so you can't take credit for anything that you've done.
*Side note: I have a hard time understanding why we do birthday parties for this very reason. Its just weird to me! Its not like we can say, "You are so awesome because you ripped yourself out of you mother's womb on this day 28 years ago!" If anything, we should be celebrating God as the creator when we have birthday parties...not the person! I do like birthday parties though...I promise I'm not going to deprive my children of them in the future.

4. You realize that your "being created" is not done! I don't think God ever intended for us to say, "Thanks for making me! See ya later!" We are still a work in progress.

We have heard the lyrics, "You are the potter and I am the clay." Those cute little pots at Ellis Pottery in Marshall weren't just whipped up real quick and thrown on a shelf! The pots were first prepared for wheel throwing, then accurately shaped and trimmed on the wheel, then dried, then glazed and fired, then painted, etc. Its quite a process to get a lump of clay looking like a beautiful jar.

Sometimes we feel like a lump of clay. (I'm not just talking about physical beauty...I'm talking about our character.) Remember God is not done with you! Sometimes we take credit for being a beautiful jar. Remember that you used to be a lump of clay and you didn't put yourself on that wheel to be perfectly shaped and trimmed. He makes beautiful things out of us!

I pray that I would begin to take on this mindset and recognize and acknowledge God as my creator. I pray that Colin and Carley would one day understand this too.

Check out this blog post by Michael Gungor (Christian artist). You will especially appreciate this if you are a musician or just appreciate music!

Creativity and Music