In our image - in God's image?

Have you even made anything in your image?

When I was 10 or so my mom gave me a little square piece of metal with little prongs on it. She told me it was a potholder maker. It came with these little stretchy bands. As you weave them together you end up with a potholder. I really got into this and made it quite the little business. I would make these potholders and sell them to church members for $.25 a piece. They really weren't that great, but apparently I was cute enough that people bought them anyway.

I have made many things in my life; paintings, salads, enchiladas, potholders. But nothing was really made in my image or really like me until we had Lorelai. Every time someone sees us together especially when she was little they would look at her and then look at me and say, "well, there is no way you could deny she is your daughter. She looks just like you." I always felt a little ticked about that. When would I ever want to deny my own daughter!!! But it was true that she does look a lot like me. And she looks even more like her grandmother, my mom. But she doesn't only look like my mother she also acts like her. She is a bundle on energy just like her grandmother. My mom would climb out of her crib and catch flies of the window. Lorelai has been climbing and catching bugs her whole life.

In Genesis 5 scripture reiterates that man was made in the image and likeness of God and then tells us that Adam had a son in his image and likeness in Seth. It would seem that not only was there son like father but son like grandfather, as in God. I don't know how much if any physical likeness there is, although we must allow for this. But as long as Adam raised Seth to know God the character likeness would for sure be there. This would seem to be true sense it was through Seth that Noah came along, which with the long lives of men there maybe Noah actually knew Seth, I haven't added up the years. Noah was the one on the earth found righteous so it seems that son was like father and great...grandfather God.

Unfortunately there were many who were not like God and when we get to the flood we find that Noah was about the only one left. Lorelai also learns things that aren't so great for her reflection of God from her daddy. I wish it weren't so, but I do my best. And there is a better chance of her reflecting God if she is with a father and mother that know him. I definitely need to continue to seek after God myself. I would like the one who is made in my image to also be in the image of God.

In case you don't have this opportunity with a child of your own I would like to encourage you to get involved in the life of a child. As a youth pastor I would first in courage you to do this through your church family. I also just came across a great program that is going on in Portland, founded by Donald Miller the author of "Blue like Jazz." It is about to go national this fall for those who don't live in Portland. Check it out at www.thementoringproject.org I would be great for these fatherless children to made more into the image of their heavenly father, of course that would depend on if we are allowing ourselves to be made into the same.