Certificate of Authenticity

For you created my inmost being;
You knit me together in
my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful.
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the
depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
{Psalm 139:13-16}

Have you ever designed something that you were really proud of? Maybe a painting, a poem, a handmade ornament, a scrapbook page, a hand-sewn dress, a flower arrangement? How did you go about designing it? Did you look at inspiring works around you? Did you find inspiration in your surroundings, maybe from the colors of the season or from a swatch of fabric? Or maybe you created something based on a sensation you experienced when you were visiting a new place or sharing time with someone you love? When was the last time you visited an art museum and was surrounded by the magnificence of the works or art? Have you ever reflected on each piece there before you and wondered how the artist could create something so unique, so challenging, and so emotional?

As I read through these verses the other day, I was suddenly reminded that I am knit together by God. I know that seems obvious when reading it, but I've read this passage a million times. It's one that you usually see on baby announcements or plaques for nursery's. But as someone who loves to create and design, I was intimately pulled into this passage in a new way. I read it as if a piece of art were reflecting on the work of the Master Artist.

Before the Artist began his work, He had a plan - an inspiration - to create something completely authentic. He had a vision for His next masterpiece. In His mind's eye He saw the finished masterpiece. He was not out to copy something that already existed. Instead, He created something new and different from anything out there. He wanted something "wonderful." The medium may be the same - flesh and bone - but no two pieces are the same. The Artist spent hours, days, months, years and even centuries planning the masterpiece before He put His brush to the canvas or His pencil to the paper. Each brush stroke, each placement of color, each completed piece reveals a little bit more about Him. Over time the masterpieces are displayed together in a collection to tell a story about the Artist and His inspiration. Perhaps He found inspiration from His surroundings. Surroundings that include sparkling, glassy seas, vibrant colors more brilliant than jewels, beautiful creatures who make harmonious music, and most amazingly, Jesus. That is the inspiration He used when He designed the world, and me, and you.

We are masterpieces designed by God. We are originals. We have a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the One True Artist. We were first an inspiration, then a work in progress, and then a final masterpiece. Maybe sometimes I forget this truth and I begin to fall into a boring rut. A rut that's not at all inspirational or creative. Or, even worse I chose to take the easy way and try to make myself into a carbon copy of others I see around me, all the while, forgetting that I am an original, created for a specific purpose by the Master Artist.