I've heard people preach on the first chapter of the bible (Genesis 1:1) "In the beginning God" and stop right there. They stress that God was there in the beginning, on His own, and that is the most important thing to remember about before the world began. But I beg to disagree.

 If we add just one more word from that sentence we get "In the beginning God created". Surely this is the most important sentence in the bible. Without it nothing else would have happened and it would just be God sitting on His own twiddling His thumbs. If we just have "In the beginning God" then none of us exist. If we just have "In the beginning God" then I wouldn't be sat here typing this. But luckily for me and you, the sentence goes on and says "In the beginning God created".

 And for me that is crucial. It speaks of God's greatest purpose and burning desire. It wasn't to preach to the open space, to play football or watch TV. It was to create! And some may say he was lonely and wanted to create humans, but if that was the case wouldn't he have created them first and be done with it? No, so great is the pure desire to create, that God makes many different and amazing things. First the heavens and the earth. Then light, followed by the seas, land, vegetation, stars and other living creatures.

Sometimes when I contemplate church and christianity I think we have lost the heart of our creator. We have set guidelines and cultures that restrict our creativity. Yes there is a place for all these things, but where is our raw burning desire to be in the image of God and create just for the pure pleasure of it?!

Recently, with the arrival of sprogling number two, I have had to put crafts and music and other creative outlets to one side to concentrate on keeping both them and myself alive. But my connection and relationship with God has really suffered. I kept thinking I needed to have this rigid, structured quiet time to connect with God (and couldn't find the time or space to fit that in) so just stopped trying. But actually I just need to think creatively and find new ways to connect with Him.

For me and my season, that is through exploring the bible in fun new ways with my toddler, but also trying to rediscover the love and passion God gave me for art and crafts by taking up bible lettering. Hopefully I will be able to share some of my creations on here or Instagram (follow me @ace_rach ). What is your creative passion? Maybe it's art, maybe its dance, maybe its writing. Why not reconnect with your creators heart through this and find the pure joy of creating.

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