A Zoo’s Pondering (part five): Made for Him

“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Psalm 100).

My heart is tender tonight—ready and waiting to receive the embrace of two fine men. They’ve crossed the Equator and back again and are approximately three hours away from the punctuation of a journey that began eleven days ago. My emotions have walked the extremes. But mostly, what I feel right now is love.

Not a love for things or stuff or trinkets that can be quantified, but rather a love for people whose measured worth is unquantifiable.

People. The sixth day wonder of God’s creative genius. The final brushstroke of God’s divine masterpiece. He saved the best for last.

We are that last. We are the exclamation point on a creation story that some have deemed implausible. Not possible. A stretch that requires more ignorance than sense. To some, we are nothing more than the evolution of this.

But I don’t see it. Instead I see this.

Apparently the furry guy didn’t get the memo and stayed as he is.

That, my friends, is a stretch that requires more ignorance than sense, for we are the implemented plan of the Divine. His name is God, and we were created in his image for his glory and renown alone (Jeremiah 13:11). We are the favor of our Father’s eyes, and he rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

His weaving of us in our mother’s womb leaves little room for debate. Fearfully and wonderfully, he took the task of our becoming (Psalm 139). And from the very beginning, he fashioned us with the mark of eternity (Ecc. 3:11).

This is what sets us apart from every other created being. We bare the marks of forever. There’s something about us that looks like him, and through the power of the Cross, we participate in the divine nature that allows us to embody his Spirit within (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Gorillas and monkeys and chimpanzees are, quite frankly, adorable. I love to ponder them and their ways. But for all of their uniqueness, I can’t hold them. Can’t talk to them. Can’t share matters of the heart with them. Not really. I could try, but a one sided communication fall shorts of true, lasting connections. And I am after connection. One on one. Heart to heart.

So is our God. He created us with the connection in mind. And for the time span that has existed from Eden until now, he has been in hot pursuit of our noticing him. Of recognizing that we are not a separate entity, void of Eden’s pulse but, rather, that we are uniquely tied to the pulse of our Father.

We were made by Him. We were made for Him. And I, for one, cannot think of a better way to close our zoo ponderings than to simply take a few minutes to ponder Him.

There’s a wonderful video clip by Louie Giglio that sheds some light into this truth. Honestly, I’ve only now thought about it as I’ve been writing. Many of you have seen it before, but I think it worthy of our second glance. And for those of you who’ve yet to watch it?

Well…it is eight minutes of your day wisely spent. Do yourself a high and holy favor by taking the time to watch this through to the end. Indeed, God created you with his image in mind.

Thank you, each one, for spending a week at the zoo with me. I have loved walking these steps of creation’s glory through a different set of lenses. My prayer is that you, too, have been able to witness the truth of Jesus Christ through these modern day parables. They have the capacity to speak a word to the human condition if we only allow ourselves the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the mind to conceive the sacred possibilities within.

It’s all around, friends. God’s truth in our present. As you enter into your Sabbath day of rest, may you be ever more aware of the Father’s whispers and of the Spirit’s wind as he blows through your frame with the sure glory of your everlasting. I love you each one. You have been life to me in these past eleven days.

As always,

~elaine