Day Five: A Lesson in Creativity

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. Genesis 20 20-22

Day Five: A Lesson in Creativity

When we think of animal life today, we tend to think in two categories. The first is domesticated animals and the other is wild animals. Genesis makes this distinction as well but the distinction is one that may look like the difference between a cat and a dog more than it looks like lion and a lamb. Let me explain. After the flood there was a fear that came upon animals of men that did not exist previously, Genesis 9:2 -3 records the Lord’s words to mankind, “The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.” Prior to this the fear of men was not upon any animal. In Genesis 2:19-20 the Lord makes a distinction between livestock and wild animals but neither had fear of men. Like a cat, wild animals prowled, although I believe they were vegetarians also. It is not until after the flood that men eat meat, it is only an inference, but this lack of fear may have existed between animals as it did between men and animals. However the scriptures are not clear on this point.

The question I want to ask is what was being taught on day five? I believe that it is the lesson of creativity. When we meditate on the vast number of creatures on the earth it is incredible to consider the variety. “Scientists who study animal life … have recorded 20,000 species of fish, 6,000 species of reptiles, 9,000 birds, 1,000 amphibians, and 15,000 species of mammals. And, although there are a million named species of insects, scientists estimate that there could be another million waiting to be discovered and named!” There is also an order related to the eco-systems that is part of each of these species design that is unfathomable, except there be a design.

All of nature is a school room for understanding the character of God and what God enjoys is variety. Modern life posses us a question then it locks us into an identity that can become a prison cell. The question is framed as, what are you, or what do you do? The response expected is singular, “I am this or that” but God has made each of us to be wonderfully creative. The God who created ants and elephants wants to bring out in us the artist, the healer, the accountant, carpenter, philosopher and comedian. Let us not grow wearing in well doing. ‘Well doing’ is not just charitable works but creative works. The Christian is not to meditate in order to pass time until they get to heaven. They are to meditate on the Lord’s work and become co-laborers with him. The animal kingdom screams “Look what the Lord has done.” Like children placing art on the refrigerator let us strive to please our creative God by gifting him with a life full of creativity.

http://www.worldstory.net/en/species.html