Unecessary but Nice

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17)

Yesterday I took my grandson Elijah (age six) out for a ride on his trailer bike. The front end of his monocycle attaches to the seat post of my bike and we ride together. We went 15 miles and tackled some pretty significant hills. The biggest one was about eight tenths of a mile long and rose about 170 feet. That makes it a four percent grade, not much in a car but pretty significant when you're pedaling up it with a 75 pound load on the back of your bike. The profile of the hill from my GPS makes it look even more difficult.

Elijah's trailer bike does have pedals, but most of the time he gets pretty lazy back there, content to freewheel and let Papa do all the work. When he does pedal along, if we're on a flat stretch of road it's almost impossible to detect any difference in the level of effort required on my part. But yesterday was different. Yesterday Elijah was very enthusiastic about going for a ride. And when it came to the hills Elijah was eager to help out. In fact, on a couple of occasions he was pedaling so hard that I'm convinced I could have stopped pedaling momentarily and he would have kept us going uphill for some distance.

I know that I would have made it up every hill in our ride without Elijah's help. His efforts were not required to successfully climb the 9 or 10 hills on our 15 mile ride. But when I was going uphill and could feel his little legs adding power and speed to our climb it felt good. It made my heart smile to know that he was giving it his all and doing everything he could to make our ride a success.

As I read Colossians today, I was struck by the greatness of Christ. Paul's words drove home the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord of all! He created all things and rules over everything with all the rights of a firstborn Son. He existed before anything, and everything that exists is held together by Him. Yet, He chose to give us a role in carrying on His ministry after He ascended into heaven following His glorious resurrection victory.

I realized that Paul's words in Colossians 1 make it clear that Jesus doesn't need us to get His work done. He can accomplish His will by His own divine power without any of us lifting a finger to help. But He has honored us by allowing us to participate in His work here on earth for the salvation of mankind. It made me think about yesterday's bike ride. I would have gotten up those hills without Elijah's help, but it was good to feel his efforts on the back of the bike. It made my heart happy to know that we were in it together, part of a combined effort. I'm sure it makes Jesus happy when He sees our efforts to serve Him. He is not dependent on our contribution, but the joy of sharing His ministry with us is a blessing to Him, just as it is a blessing to us.

Creators for the Creator

(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Hebrews 3:4

I watched a video yesterday on wealth creation. It described how wealth can be created out of nothing. When someone has an idea, then takes that idea and turns it into reality, the real object, invention or improved product becomes something that someone else sees as valuable. The creator can then sell that object to the person who values it and consequently increase his or her wealth.

Where did the wealth come from? From the person who bought the object? Not really. The money would have never changed hands without the idea that was conceived in the creator's mind. The idea is that which created the wealth to begin with. Or is it?

Where did the idea come from? From the mind that conceived it? Certainly that is the case, but where did the mind itself come from, or the ability of that mind to create something new out of nothing? It came from God. The reason we are creative people who are able to conceive of something new, something that no one has ever thought of before, is because we are created in the image of God.

God Himself is the ultimate Creator. Just as every house must have a builder, so everything in all of creation must have a Builder too. That Builder is God, and when God graciously created us to be like Him so that we could have fellowship with Him, He became the ultimate Originator of every idea that has ever been conceived. Thus, God is the Builder of everything. Not just the trees and flowers and animals and people that are a part of nature. But even the cars, houses, office buildings, computers and cell phones that we use every day. Because if God had not made us in His image, if He had not made us creative like Him, we would be like the animals who cannot conceive of a doggie door, or a kittie litter box, or a hamster ball or the anything else that is not "natural."

We honor people who create something new with wealth for their useful inventions. But even more, we should honor God for everything that exists, even the things we invent. Because God is the Builder of everything.