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“So the LORD God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.”
Genesis 2:19 (HCSB)

The second telling of the creation story describes that God made every wild animal and bird and brought each to Adam for Adam to name the creature. This verse sparked my imagination today.

God brought each animal He had created to Adam and gave Adam the privilege and responsibility of naming them. How cool is that? How collaborative was that? Imagine the process! I’m smiling at the thought of it.

God brings an animal to Adam. The animal doesn’t have a name. God says “look at this, Adam, what do you think we should call it?” Adam looks closely at the animal, noticing its shape and coloring. He watches it move, maybe even spends time examining its behavior and habits.

And then an appropriate name comes to Adam. “Let’s call this one ‘elephant’” he exclaims.

And I imagine the delight that is in God’s eyes as He watches the creativity and thoughtfulness in the man he created as he names each one. I also see pride in God’s eyes. Not sinful pride, but pleasure in the goodness of a job well done. I love that God brings us into the process of all that He does – that He enjoys our participation with Him. I can feel His pleasure in us as I write this.

And it occurs to me that the enemy doesn’t like this. His purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus’ purpose is to give life and give it more abundantly. (John 10:10) My job is to pay attention to the One who gives life and ignore the lies of the destroyer.

Don’t let the enemy steal your joy. It’s a good thing to revel in the pleasure of God. Know that He is pleased with you. He created you in His image – with creativity and goodness and life to share with Him and those around you. Enjoy God! Enjoy life! He is worthy of your enjoyment!

This entry was posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2020 at 5:49 am and is filed under Christian Living, Experiencing God, God's nature, Intimacy with God, Wonders of God. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.