A NEW WAY OF THINKING

Isaiah 43:14-45:10; Ephesians 3:1-21; Psalm 68:1-18; Proverbs 24:1-2

“Forget what happened in the past, and do not dwell on events from long ago. I am going to do something new. It is already happening. Don’t you recognize it? I will clear a way in the wilderness for my people to come home. … I will make rivers on the dry land for my chosen people to drink. I have formed these people for myself. They will praise me. But my dear people, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me.”

“I’m asking God to give you a gift from the wealth of his glory. I pray that he would give you inner strength and power through his Spirit. Then Christ will live in you through faith. I also pray that love may be the ground into which you sink your roots and on which you have your foundation. This way, with all of God’s people, you will be able to understand how wide, long, high, and deep his love is. You will know Christ’s love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God. Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”

“Do not envy evil people or wish you were with them, because their minds plot violence, and their lips talk trouble.”

I am so glad we are not bound to the past. Certainly, history contains many lessons for those wise enough to take heed of them. But the best news of Scripture is we need not be either defined or limited by previous experience. No matter the number or enormity of our failures, we are perpetually surrounded by the “green shoots” of God’s love, power and vision. However dried up and depleted we may feel, the Spirit offers invigorating Living Waters to refresh us when we need renewal most. More, Christ would instill in each of us a permanent sense of our own worth, potential and abilities. If that is not enough to get us excited and enthusiastic, there is something seriously wrong with us.

The problem is, of course, that something is wrong with each of us. It’s called sin. Our intentional decisions to usurp the preeminence of God in our lives and our actions separates us from the Source of creativity and energy. Bad, selfish choices literally sap our personal enthusiasm and endurance. But mainly, sin limits our vision. We become so focused on the boundaries of our own desires, strength and plans that, after a while, we can lose sight of God’s altogether.

Take heart! We are created in the image of God. We were created to be creative. Let us not get so consumed with the day-to-day tasks of ordinary life that we lose our imagination and resourcefulness. Christ did not die on the Cross so that we could become lost in complacency. He did not teach us to give up our dreams or our inspiration. His purpose was rather to break us free of all the ordinariness of life – of all the rules and regulations – so that we could be free to imagine a better world, and play our part to make it happen.

Like our Creator Himself, every human being on earth creates something. The creative urge is in our DNA; it is an inevitable result of our presence here on earth. Humans simply cannot not create. It is what we create that defines our character and, to a large extent, the worth of our lives.

Everyone knows someone who specializes in creating. Some create misery. Think “Debbie Downer,” for example. Others specialize in creating opportunities for themselves, whatever the cost to those around them. But praise God, there are still people who make their lives’ purpose creating joy and enthusiasm and bringing them into every aspect of theirs and others’ lives. Seemingly irrepressible, these select few know something the rest of us do not. They understand they are, in fact, free to be creative and imaginative, and they find their highest and best use is actually making their hopes and dreams into reality. These chosen ones are never comfortable with mere survival. They willingly overextend their personal limits. They are willing to risk failure because they know exactly into Whose hands they will fall when they do miss the mark. They know there is no condemnation where they are headed.

Our good and gracious Lord wants us to dream and create without ceasing. He wants to be allowed to inspire us to find new ways of thinking, responding and acting. He wants to infect our lives with a completely illogical imagination that is as boundless as His power to make it happen.

Each day is a gift, an opportunity to bring the creativity and imagination of the Holy Spirit to bear on our own and others’ problems, issues, blessings and prospects. When we become so consumed with mere survival that we cannot think ourselves out of our ruts, it’s past time for a clean break with the ordinary. In the power of Christ, then, let’s do something crazy today. Let’s take some time to dream and imagine. Rekindle the spark of creativity. Create a bit of heaven on earth. It is entirely possible. We just have to live free, intentionally claiming the new life we are offered in Jesus.