Create Something, Anything!

Last week I started a blog series on ‘Discovering the Best You’ https://vandersthoughts.blogspot.com/2018/10/dumb-smartwatch.html
because I truly believe that God placed the best you in you and I believe He wants to help you to figure out how to get it out. I’ll start with the challenge to tap into your creative side, even if you don’t think you have a creative side, we all do. God created us in His image, which means we share His creative properties. Not that you or I could create our own universe (although we try to exist in our own sometimes), each and every one of us has a creative side because we were created by a creative God. 

Now when it comes to being creative we usually think of the arts, music, writing, and drawing and if you do those things already then you have already discovered the creator in you. But if your like me and the most creative thing you have ever drawn is a stick figure, then it’s good to know that creativity goes well beyond these things. For example, have you ever made the best mac-and-cheese ever? Or discovered a new way to fold your socks? Or forged a new path through your garage? Then you’ve tapped into your creativity. You really have. You’re using your creative side every time you create a better or new way to do anything. 

The key is to discovering the power of creativity is to share your creativity. What good is creating something that doesn't benefit others? Could you imagine writing a song that no one ever hears or painting a masterpiece that no one ever sees? It’s only when we learn to create for the benefits of others then we get the full experience and expression of creativity. 

So start looking at what you do in life as a creative process and get busy creating. Create a delicious meal and bring joy to your family. Create a appreciation letter to make someone feel better. Create a new process so your co-workers work more unified. Create an activity that gets students excited to learn. Create a photograph that remind others the simple beauty of life. Create a service to make someone's life easier. Create a ministry to make our world a better place. I don’t care what you create, just create something that benefits others and keep doing it and you’ll discover the best you in you. 

God created us to be the best we can be, so let the creator in you help create a better world to live in.

“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” - Jesus

Dumb Smartwatch

I own a smartwatch that connects to my smartphone and it’s supposed to make my life
easier and more productive. I can track my eating, my exercise, and my sleep patterns.
I can reply to text and emails, and even set meetings. The problem is I feel dumber every
time I try and figure out how to do all that to make my life better. Because my watch is
smarter than me, I usually resort to just changing the watch face and wonder why it’s so
hard to make my life easier?


And then I see the new ad for the Apple Watch about the guy who keeps duplicating himself
and the ends with the tagline, “There’s a better you in you” (if you haven’t seen it here’s the
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms4yxJcvW3s).


It seems like all you have to do to discover the better you is to get a smartwatch. But is
a smartwatch really all we need to get out the best of whatever is in us?

I want the best out of my life and my watch doesn't seem to be doing it for me. That’s why
I’m convinced we already have the ability to tap into the best that’s within us, by simply
seeking the one who put it in there in the first place.


I believe Paul thought the same thing when he wrote this to the Romans....

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your 

sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an
offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t
become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead,
fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what
he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. - Romans 12:1-2

I may not be as smart as my smartwatch, but I’ve discovered a smart way to discover the
best of me and it starts with God. I believe that at the soul level of each and every one of us
exists our best, so over the next few weeks I’m going to work on some new blogs to help you and I discover the best in us. In the meantime I leave you with the words of the modern
poet and prophet Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters to ponder... 

“Has someone taken your faith? It’s real, the pain you feel. You trust, you must confess.
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?”