The Gift of Imagination

The Bible is full of great stories, but most assuredly one of my favorites is one of the first ones recorded in the beginning verses of Genesis.  The third chapter of that book of beginning has this story about the snake showing up in the Garden to tempt Adam and Eve.  It is also a story about God showing up in the Garden to seek out the Garden couple for what appears to be a moment of daily conversation.  One of the verses which takes us away from the impending outcome for just a moment is the 8th verse which says, "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze..."

 

If our ears are turned to the sensitive level, we can hear the footsteps of God touching the earth with the gentleness of leaves being moved along the ground by a soft wind.  And if we are somehow able to put ourselves in the story at that moment in time, we come to an awareness that the end of whatever God was doing has come and it is time for a relaxing and refreshing walk midst the creation He made and with the couple He shared in relationship.  Of course, it is just a story that speaks to us of divine truths, but it is told in such a way as to call forth not only our intellect, but our imaginations as well.

 

Imagination is surely a wonderful gift from God.  We have been blessed by the creative energy inherent within the imagination of writers like C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.  And, surely the gift of imagination which springs forth from our own life blesses us as it gives us eyes to see the things that the physical eyes cannot see.  When we read the Word, imagination is a blessed thing to carry with us.  We should not be afraid that it might lead us into some deep heresy, but grateful for the way that it can be used by God to bring His mysterious truths to our soul.