Imagination

Human beings are created by God with imagination. That’s part of being made “in the image of God.” He has the greatest imagination – unlimited and beyond comprehension. I love to look at flowers or spend time in a zoo or aquarium and marvel at the variety of all He made for us to enjoy. I think He enjoys it too, because there are some fish in the ocean and some flowers in the wilderness that no human will ever see. But He does.

Just think. God created the whole universe out of His imagination. He not only imagined it. He made it happen. That’s what artists and architects and engineers do on a smaller scale. They don’t stamp out duplicates on an assembly line. They design unique things, each one different from the other.

When I was a child, I had an imaginary friend. Maybe you did too. In some ways they were better than real friends because they were perfect. Some things probably need to be left to the imagination. That’s what some authors and producers think when they write a book or produce a movie that doesn’t really complete the story. We are left to imagine the ending. I choose to imagine a good one in which everything works out well.

When I was young I never imagined being old. It’s different than I would have planned, but I’m learning to cope with reality. At least I know how the story will end. Whatever the problems and difficulties here, God has promised a hereafter that surpasses our imaginations. After all, He’s the One with the perfect and unlimited imagination. So I assume that what He’s thought of and planned and designed is incredible!

A little preview: “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:14-17).

John heard this description of the new heaven: “The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass…The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21:18, 21).

Can you picture it? Can you imagine it?