We had our two small grandchildren over for an evening. Later, my daughter told me: “they had a ball!” What a compliment. My goal when my grandchildren come for a visit is to do all I can so that they can’t wait to come back. I want to be a grandparent who is “fun to be with.” I want to enjoy my grandchildren, and I want them to enjoy coming to our house.
Don’t you suspect that God has the same attitude? He can’t wait to see us and he wants us to enjoy him so much that we will want to hurry back for another visit. Is there any evidence in the Bible that this is true?
Today we continue to read the creation account from the Book of Genesis (1:20-2:4). When we read what God did, let’s imagine he is preparing a “playground” for his children—or grandchildren.
“Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky. And so it happened: God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teams, and all kinds of winged birds.”
How excited God must have felt as he let this almost infinite variety of fish and birds explode upon the earth. Did he imagine his children discovering new varieties of sea creatures when they fished or be amazed when a new, colorful bird landed in a tree branch?
Then he became even more excited and creative:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air…”
God needed someone to enjoy this magnificent playground he had created. He needed some grandchildren! He needed creatures who would share in his capacity to enjoy, discover, and subdue creation. And so he made us.
God finished the “playground” in six days and then:
“He rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from the work he had done in creation.”
He needed a seventh day so he could sit back and enjoy the work of his hands—especially watching his children revel in the wonders he had created. He also needed a seventh day so that his children could have time out from their busy activities and enjoy just being with him. He made it “holy”—set apart just for them to be with him—like those moments when grandchildren forget their toys for a while and just sit next to their grandparents on the couch, read books, talk, or maybe even fall asleep in their arms.
Creation culminated in man just enjoying being with God. Humans would find out how wonderful their Creator is and find him “fun to be with.”
Then came the Pharisees and scribes (Mark 7:1-13). They took charge of the Sabbath and squeezed all the fun out of it. Turning people’s attention away from their loving creator, they made the Sabbath a set of rules and regulations, and gave themselves the job of being Sabbath “policemen.” They succeeded in making sure that God was no longer “fun to be with.” How sad!
God gives us “Sabbath time” to spend with him and enjoy the life he’s given us. Do we take advantage of these opportunities, or are we too preoccupied with “getting things done” and fulfilling our duties that we, like the world, see no point in having “holy time” to rest with God? And, remember, we don’t have to wait seven days to have holy time with God. Isn’t that what prayer is all about?
“What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?” (Ps 8:4).
