Devotional 3-4-11

Creation

In the beginning was God.
His hands itched to create,
to swirl nothingness with the power of his Word
and create goodness and glory.

Nothing existed except for God.
The breath of his Word swept across the nothingness,
until God imagined light.
From a tiny flicker of thought
in the mind of God,
there was a spark.
God pulled light out of darkness,
and it was good.
God created the Day and the Night.

God moved across the water,
dividing it with power greater than we can imagine,
until there was sea and sky.
Related and yet separate.
God imagined clouds and wind,
waves and tides.
And he created them,
and they were good.

God swept across the ocean,
and like a potter with clay,
divided out land from sea.
Mountains rose at his thought.
Valleys and canyons were carved by his fingertips.
With joy and power, he sculpted the earth,
setting into motion the tectonic plates,
floating on a core of fire.
Each detail felt his breath
until he was satisfied.
Using the fabric of life,
he quilted together the trees,
Leaves and berries were his stitches,
Pops of color in the flowers.
Seeds for the future,
creating for the perpetuation of all he designed.
As he tugged the last aspen into place
he knew that it was good.

Like a photographer, he gathered the light,
and bound it into the sun and moon.
He met the needs of his creation
for heat and light,
by swinging the sun into the sky.
The moon became an anchor for the tides.
Earthly time flew from his Words
as the movement of his creation through the sky
marked the hours and the years.
His paint bush dabbed power in the sky
as stars began to glint and glimmer.
Giving the planet a push, he set the world spinning,
creating an evening and a night.
And they were good.

The next morning, God surveyed his canvas,
and smiled, rubbing his hands together with glee.
Life began to pulse as his Word spoke.
The air lifted creatures with wings
and fish shot through the deep.
Color and variety danced on the joy of God's imagination.
Clown fish darted as anemones waved in the water.
Eagles soared as God played with ostriches.
Fish swam and birds flew
as God declared their goodness.

Cell to cell, worms and elephants began to evolve
from the imagination of God.
Serpents basked on rocks, soaking in God's sunshine,
as spiders wove webs.
Animals sprang to life,
and God planted dreams of creation in their minds.
God's hands became gentle as he whispered.
A self portrait.
Man and woman, two parts of a whole, were spoken into being.
He blessed them with his imagination, his joy and laughter.
He blew across their hearts to start them beating
with love, created out of his own depth of being.
He made them clever and emotional,
and touched their lives with an awareness of their creator.
God laughed
at the goodness of it all.

He invited them to dominion and responsibility.
He placed his creations in their care --
the moon and the stars;
the water and the air;
the plants and the animals;
each other.
He promised them his presence,
and kissed them with his spirit.
The master touched his creation,
hallowing it,
and knew that it was very good.

Kim Matthews