So much of the Bible gives us imagination more than information. So much of who you want to be and what you want in life is empowered by your imagination. This is why sin always appeals to your imagination. Why the vast majority of commercials appeal to your imagination.
But then when we read the Bible we think only in propositional truths. We just think in terms of beliefs we’re supposed to have and commands we’re supposed to do.
But that’s not what the Bible is doing most of the time. Most of the time the Bible is giving us imagination more than information.
And if you really want to live a life experiencing connection with God, God intends for you to use the power of your imagination. Imagining something that’s very real but that you cannot see.
Psalm 63:8 ESV
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
This is imaginative language.
God wants you to imagine this. Picture this. Your soul — all of who you are — body and spirit — utterly clinging to God right now.
Remember the last time you clung to something. You felt desperate. Fearful to let go. You needed with all your strength to hold on. That’s the image God wants you to have right now with him. Feel this in your body – in your whole self.
Imagine your whole being – your soul – clinging to the one who calls himself I AM. The one whose name is Yahweh — he is — the source of all existence. The giver of all life. The one who inhabits eternity. And the one who always connects with you infinitely and intimately in the present moment. Right now.
Feel this imagination in your entire body. Feel it from within your body. Your body clinging to the I AM for your very life. He is the source of your existence. The giver of every moment of your life. The one who inhabits eternity and has an eternal glory for you that every moment now somehow fits within. And he is the one who is infinitely and intimately connected with you right now. Your body is a temple of his Holy Spirit.
Imagine yourself clinging to God. Feel this image into your body. Your body connected to the I AM right now. You are one — your soul is one — body and spirit — with the God who created and sustains everything in this entire universe. One with the one who is the author of life.
Tim Keller
Prayer is awe before an infinite force, and yet it's intimacy with a personal friend — at the same time.
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This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.