We’ve talked this week about toys that mimic real life, but are missing the key ingredient – even though it might bring danger and difficulty.

I’m not here to rant about the toys of today and tell you they’re better or worse than before, like some kind of grinch. I’d rather talk about emptiness of life without Jesus Christ…God with us. He’s the key ingredient that makes all the difference.

Remember. From simple, messy things come great beauty.

Our lives are not always very pretty. They can be messy, dangerous, risky. We make mistakes, we hurt others, we hurt ourselves, we hurt God. We call this sin, and it’s the brokenness in all of us.

But in the hands of the master, we can be made beautiful again . He is the main ingredient for real life that we are missing. When we allow him to work on us, to create us as the beautiful creations were made to be, he then makes us part of a beautiful installation, one great masterpiece of masterpieces.

God chose to do his work with our world, and with us. He chose to use the real things, even though messy. We are the real things. God won’t replace any of us with virtual robots. He wants us, real creations, with all our flaws.

He wants this so badly, he was willing to do it himself. He was willing to come to earth as one of us, to show us just what he could do in spite of our flaws.

Have you never had this kind of relationship with God?

Have you always felt he had no plan for you, or that your life was too messy, dangerous for him to care?

When we feel that way, it may be that we are realizing we’ve missed the main ingredient in our works of art…in our lives. It’s the creator himself, who came to earth as one of us, and is now reigning in heaven, and also wants to live in our hearts…messy as our lives may be.

Invite him in today, in a new and incredible way, to be part of your life.

Like the people described in Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined.”

Invite him to be the great artist who creates in you a work of art, and uses you to make our world a more beautiful place.

Meeting with a Group?  Your discussion questions are in this week’s Group Study Guide

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