It’s hard to believe that this coming Sunday is the final week of this years “at the movies” series. So far we’ve talked about a gadget-savvy-hero who dressed up as a giant bat, an animated character living in a video game, a real life hero who turned the racially segregated world of the 1950’s on it’s head, and this week a typical zombie-corpse-meets-girl-zombie-corpse-doesn’t-eat-girl love story. :-) Needless to say, in order to learn some very valuable principles from scripture, we’ve had to use our imaginations. In order to change our mindsets, we’ve had mentally place ourselves in situations FAR different from our own.
I’m SO thankful for the teachings of Jesus this morning. He COULD HAVE come with a dry list of rules, facts, and regulations. He COULD HAVE lectured us. He COULD HAVE used flash cards or spreadsheets. Instead, he asked those who gathered to use their imagination….he asked those he taught to place themselves mentally in a completely different situation. His parables and stories delighted and intrigued the huge crowds that gathered to hear them. He’d say things like: Imagine a rich man who had already made more money than he could ever spend. Imagine if you found a treasure in a field. Imagine if you lost a valuable family heirloom coin. Imagine a farmer sowing seeds in a field. Imagine a man who had been beaten and robbed, waiting on the side of the road waiting to be helped.
I’m so very thankful for the imagination and compassion of the Son of God. I’m thankful that as followers of Christ, he left us such a fantastic tool…imagination…to help us make others aware of the new life he offers. Most of all, I’m thankful for his stories…and how they have changed me…more than I could ever imagine.
How about you?