We first meet God as our Creator. The very first glimpse we get of God in His Word is in Genesis 1. But He’s not just our Creator, He’s the Creator of all things. He took nothing and with a power and creativity we cannot even begin to imagine, He created the earth and everything in it.

         And then He made us. In His image. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;” (Genesis 1:27a) The meaning of this verse has been debated for centuries by theologians and philosophers and those much wiser than me. I wouldn’t dream of suggesting I completely understand this concept, but I do have a few thoughts on the matter.

         The Creator of the universe made me (and you!) to be like Him. (And the rest of the Bible reveals our rejection of His plan and His persistence to see that dream of His accomplished.) Being created in God’s image has more meanings that I could possibly enumerate. I think at the very least that means we are creative. Not that we should be creative. Not that we could be creative. But that we ARE creative. Every person in every land, in every century. Every one of us is creative.

         It doesn’t matter if we paint, mold clay, write, lay tile, cook dinner, read a story to a child, file taxes and keep accounts, or write computer programs. We are creative. It is at once exciting and sobering to think that when I create a new story, I’m emulating my Father and Creator. And when I create a whole new world, as all fantasy writers do, I take that imitation to a new level. I’m not creating from nothing as He did, but then I’m not God. I’m a fantasy writer created to be like God, not to be God.

         Isn’t that thought awesome? Awe-inspiring. Mind-boggling. When I write, I imitate the God I love. And not just in my writing. The very expression of my daily life reveals the creativity endowed by my God. The way I clean house (or don’t clean it LOL) has levels of creativity. My neat and orderly husband has been stretched to his limits at times, but I’ve also benefited from his creativeness in finding storage and cleaning solutions.

         I have a friend who swears she’s not creative. She can’t draw. She can’t paint. She can’t write. But she can orchestrate a loosely connected group of people together to accomplish a common task and do it in such a way that every person knows they were important to the process. I know her husband gets frustrated that she takes a bazillion pictures. That’s probably why he bought a digital camera. But picture-taking and scrapbook-making are just one of the ways she makes the people who matter to her feel accepted and loved and remembered. She daily exhibits the creativity of her Creator. And she does it often in the way He intended. With love and grace and style.

         That is true for you too. You are created in His image. You are creative. Go create!