Read Psalm 139:1-18.

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; I know that full well. (v 13-14) 

“The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this,” wrote G.K. Chesterton “that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.”

You were created. Take a moment to stand in front of the mirror and take a good look at yourself. Yes, you are what you see, but you are also what you don’t see. You are everything that is inside that miraculous body standing before you; and God loves every inch of you. Hard to believe? Yes, perhaps because we have so much evidence to the contrary. We know there are so many places we fall short of answering the call to love God with our whole selves, to love God the way God loves us.

God knew this would happen. God knew we would forget. That’s why God says to us, You of poor memory, I will write this down for you. I will send a Savior to teach you. After that I will send an Advocate to remind you of all He has taught. God knows we are imperfect people – who knows us better than God does? – and yet God doesn’t lower the standards but raises the expectations. God knows we can do this: God in us, us in God, in fellowship with one another.

Now, as one knitted together, fearfully and wonderfully, please try this activity.*

• If you were a construction project what would you look like? Use colored pencils, pens, crayons or markers to draw yourself as a construction project.
• Imagine the day of your creation when you were knitted together in the womb. Draw yourself as a creation project, God’s creation which is constituted in you.
• Overlay your drawings – creation over construction – and hold them up to the light. What do you see? What does love show you?

Reflect and Respond*

• What does it mean to be created by God?
• What might that mean about the way you see yourself? Treat yourself? Care for yourself?
• What does this say about God?

Let’s pray

Creator God, the knowledge that you made me is too great for me and too much for me to understand. Yet, I am here. I live and breathe. My heart beats and my mind thinks. You loved me before I took my first breath. I am your expression of love, alive. Teach me to love in a way that loves you back. Amen.

*I hope you’ll share your drawings and reflections in the comments.

You can order your copy of Made to Move: Knowing and Loving God Through Our Bodies from The Upper Room, on Amazon or through your local book retailer.