Imagination Beast!

Good Friday morning! Walking in a forested area, far from the noise of civilization, you stop breathing the air. Wait, no, that should be: you stop, breathing the air. One little comma missing and suddenly you're a goner. The forest surely is a dangerous place! One time I was pursued through a forest by a killer squirrel. That isn't what my imagination thought the noises were of course. I had visions of pursuing bears, mountain lions, and maybe a stray yeti or two. Little noises in a quiet place can take on a whole new meaning. An imagination can be a treacherous beast too. Some of the most hair-raising and pulse-quickening moments in my life have come purely through an assault on me by my own imagination.

An imagination can be like living with a partially obedient lion. Sometimes I get together with my lion and produce stories of fiction that are fun to write and fun to read. At night I ride my lion through a dream world. Other times the lion is feeling peevish and rips me to shreds with visions of spooks, dangers, pain, and other things that will never happen. My lion is not by any means a tame beast.

God has given me a rich imagination. Because of Adam's curse, that imagination doesn't always serve me well. It's kind of like my relationship with God. I do well sometimes, but other times I rebel. I want to do what is right all of the time, but sin seems to be always ready to pounce on me. That isn't quite right either, because I am the one who decides to sin after entertaining temptation as an honored guest instead of fleeing from or resisting it as I should. Sin doesn't really pounce on me, it sends temptation to knock on the door first. I open the door thinking maybe that it's Jesus again, but he is already inside warning me to send temptation packing. I am like the overly polite host who cannot say 'no'. "Let's see what he has to say first!" Temptation is like that pushy salesman of course and he immediately shoves a foot in the door and spreads out a nice brochure to accompany his fast talking. The more I listen to temptation, the more likely it is that Jesus will be forgotten in the kitchen while I entertain temptation out back. That is about the time that temptation convinces me to let Sin in the door too. Fallen once more.

Like many things in this fallen world: money, possessions, jobs, and time, to name a few, a good imagination can be a good servant, but it makes for an evil master. An imagination can help you craft a good song or a fun story, but it can also place spooks in the closet, boogies under the bed, and the worst possible scenarios in your head. Let Jesus be the master, we all gave our lives to Him, and let the Master teach us how to control that imagination beast.

Have a lovely Friday in Christ Jesus!

Bucky