Willie and Wilma
Genesis 1:26-27
Willee and Wilma
God created the world for His pleasure and purpose and for no other reason. God’s will brings about life and not only life, but also life that creates life. When God makes investments, His investments multiply. His creative attributes are added to His creation and therefore, all that He made, that is living, is given the ability to create as well.
So why doesn’t God just keep making things, rather than have the plants and animals multiply themselves? The answer is found in God’s purpose for creation. He created the world to do His will. God decided that He would allow the honor of His design and desires to be given to the world that He created.
As a child, I was given the honor of growing up in the home of my grandparents. My grandfather, whom my brothers and I affectionately and “southernly” called Papa (Paw Paw), was a hard worker. In fact, he worked even when others were willing to work for him. His lawn was always mowed with his own hands on the mower. He wouldn’t allow anyone to bring him anything including his supper or his cigarettes.
My brothers and I loved our Papa and we looked for any opportunity to do something that he wanted done in order to gain his appreciation. Every once in a while, he’d ask one of us to go to the truck and get his checkbook out of the glove box. I remember, as a little boy, how excited I was to have him ask me to do that and I’d run out to the truck, grab his checkbook and run back in the house with a big proud smile on my face.
My brothers and I looked forward to the next time he’d ask us to do something for him, because those opportunities were rare and we were always jealous of the one who was asked. Why were we jealous? Shouldn’t we be happy for the one who was given the opportunity to do something for our Papa? Jealousy is a strange feeling.
My brothers and I lived in a house that was bought to provide for the needs of my grandparents and we jealously wanted to be a part of those provisions. You and I live in the world that was created to do God’s will. Everything that we do should be done with the consideration of bringing the greatest amount of glory and joy to the Creator. And when you and I are given the opportunity to run out and do something, no matter how great or menial, it should be done with a big smile on our face.
When God decided that he would no longer allow the world to be empty and void, serving only as a playground for Satan, He decided to create it in such a way that He would require something to be in charge of it. If God’s will was going to get done, He wanted to give the honor of doing it to His creation. The “Willer” required a “Willee” and a Wilma. His Willee and Wilma were both created in His image. So what does that mean? What is an image?
To understand this, you have to understand what an image is for. There are a few ideas of what being created in the image of God means and here are a couple. Some say that it means we were created to look like God. In other words, we have ears, eyes, feet, and hands, and so on like God. However, the Bible tells us that God is Spirit.
Another assumption is that we were created with God’s attributes; the ability to talk, think, reason, and create.
The true meaning is found in the Bible’s examples of what images were used for. The Hebrew word for image is transliterated Tse-lem, which also means idol. When people worshiped idols, it was for one reason…to receive. People created idols in order to get something from them. They would go to them for fertility, good crops, healing, wisdom, direction, and/or protection from their enemies. The offense toward God of going to an idol is that only God makes idols and he made you to be His idol, not to make idols. God made you and me so that He could go to us and ask for His will to be done by us. When it comes to doing the will of God, God doesn’t allow His Willees and Wilmas to delegate to other idols. Willee and Wilma alone were given the privilege of mowing his lawn, serving His meals, and getting his checkbook from the truck.
God is a jealous God. He is a God that doesn’t take kindly to a stranger borrowing His Bride. You are loved and provided for by a God who thinks you are the greatest thing that ever happened to Him.
One of the funniest stories that my mother ever tells of my brothers and me with my Papa is about the time that we were all going to Germany to live while my Dad was in the U.S. Army. My twin brother and I were less than a year old and Papa didn’t want us to go, so after my mother got my brother and me all dressed up for the plane ride, while she was in the bathroom, getting herself ready, Papa sat the two of us on his lap and gave us coffee from a spoon. We loved his coffee because he always put lots of sugar and cream in it. When my mother came into the living room to gather us up, we had coffee all over our new outfits and she was livid. Papa was so jealous of us leaving that he tried desperately to keep us from going, even if it meant delaying our leaving just for a few minutes to change our clothes.
God is doing all he can to keep you from being taken far away from Him. He is offering you and me opportunity after opportunity to do His will. He comes to you as an idol to wash His people’s feet, to give His message to the world, to give Him joy and to bring him glory. When God comes to you to get His will done, He feels just like you did as a child, when someone you looked up to asked you to get his or her check book, or sit on their lap while they read you a bedtime story. You receive honor from doing it, and God is honored to give you the opportunity.
Tonight when you get ready for bed, after you’ve read God’s Word and spoken to Him, think about your day and ask yourself, “Did I do the will of my Savior today? “Were there any requests that Jesus came to me to fulfill that I didn’t run out and do with a smile?” When it comes to the will of Jesus Christ you and I are the Willees and Wilmas that bring Him joy. We are those who sit on his lap, sipping His coffee in our new outfits, while others are working hard to take us far away. Christ is jealously requesting your attention, your time, and your service.
Willee and Wilma
God created the world for His pleasure and purpose and for no other reason. God’s will brings about life and not only life, but also life that creates life. When God makes investments, His investments multiply. His creative attributes are added to His creation and therefore, all that He made, that is living, is given the ability to create as well.
So why doesn’t God just keep making things, rather than have the plants and animals multiply themselves? The answer is found in God’s purpose for creation. He created the world to do His will. God decided that He would allow the honor of His design and desires to be given to the world that He created.
As a child, I was given the honor of growing up in the home of my grandparents. My grandfather, whom my brothers and I affectionately and “southernly” called Papa (Paw Paw), was a hard worker. In fact, he worked even when others were willing to work for him. His lawn was always mowed with his own hands on the mower. He wouldn’t allow anyone to bring him anything including his supper or his cigarettes.
My brothers and I loved our Papa and we looked for any opportunity to do something that he wanted done in order to gain his appreciation. Every once in a while, he’d ask one of us to go to the truck and get his checkbook out of the glove box. I remember, as a little boy, how excited I was to have him ask me to do that and I’d run out to the truck, grab his checkbook and run back in the house with a big proud smile on my face.
My brothers and I looked forward to the next time he’d ask us to do something for him, because those opportunities were rare and we were always jealous of the one who was asked. Why were we jealous? Shouldn’t we be happy for the one who was given the opportunity to do something for our Papa? Jealousy is a strange feeling.
My brothers and I lived in a house that was bought to provide for the needs of my grandparents and we jealously wanted to be a part of those provisions. You and I live in the world that was created to do God’s will. Everything that we do should be done with the consideration of bringing the greatest amount of glory and joy to the Creator. And when you and I are given the opportunity to run out and do something, no matter how great or menial, it should be done with a big smile on our face.
When God decided that he would no longer allow the world to be empty and void, serving only as a playground for Satan, He decided to create it in such a way that He would require something to be in charge of it. If God’s will was going to get done, He wanted to give the honor of doing it to His creation. The “Willer” required a “Willee” and a Wilma. His Willee and Wilma were both created in His image. So what does that mean? What is an image?
To understand this, you have to understand what an image is for. There are a few ideas of what being created in the image of God means and here are a couple. Some say that it means we were created to look like God. In other words, we have ears, eyes, feet, and hands, and so on like God. However, the Bible tells us that God is Spirit.
Another assumption is that we were created with God’s attributes; the ability to talk, think, reason, and create.
The true meaning is found in the Bible’s examples of what images were used for. The Hebrew word for image is transliterated Tse-lem, which also means idol. When people worshiped idols, it was for one reason…to receive. People created idols in order to get something from them. They would go to them for fertility, good crops, healing, wisdom, direction, and/or protection from their enemies. The offense toward God of going to an idol is that only God makes idols and he made you to be His idol, not to make idols. God made you and me so that He could go to us and ask for His will to be done by us. When it comes to doing the will of God, God doesn’t allow His Willees and Wilmas to delegate to other idols. Willee and Wilma alone were given the privilege of mowing his lawn, serving His meals, and getting his checkbook from the truck.
God is a jealous God. He is a God that doesn’t take kindly to a stranger borrowing His Bride. You are loved and provided for by a God who thinks you are the greatest thing that ever happened to Him.
One of the funniest stories that my mother ever tells of my brothers and me with my Papa is about the time that we were all going to Germany to live while my Dad was in the U.S. Army. My twin brother and I were less than a year old and Papa didn’t want us to go, so after my mother got my brother and me all dressed up for the plane ride, while she was in the bathroom, getting herself ready, Papa sat the two of us on his lap and gave us coffee from a spoon. We loved his coffee because he always put lots of sugar and cream in it. When my mother came into the living room to gather us up, we had coffee all over our new outfits and she was livid. Papa was so jealous of us leaving that he tried desperately to keep us from going, even if it meant delaying our leaving just for a few minutes to change our clothes.
God is doing all he can to keep you from being taken far away from Him. He is offering you and me opportunity after opportunity to do His will. He comes to you as an idol to wash His people’s feet, to give His message to the world, to give Him joy and to bring him glory. When God comes to you to get His will done, He feels just like you did as a child, when someone you looked up to asked you to get his or her check book, or sit on their lap while they read you a bedtime story. You receive honor from doing it, and God is honored to give you the opportunity.
Tonight when you get ready for bed, after you’ve read God’s Word and spoken to Him, think about your day and ask yourself, “Did I do the will of my Savior today? “Were there any requests that Jesus came to me to fulfill that I didn’t run out and do with a smile?” When it comes to the will of Jesus Christ you and I are the Willees and Wilmas that bring Him joy. We are those who sit on his lap, sipping His coffee in our new outfits, while others are working hard to take us far away. Christ is jealously requesting your attention, your time, and your service.
1 comment:
Thank you.
-kathy
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