Upside Down Thinking!
by Peter Horrobin
Imagine this scene! A famous artist spends weeks, probably months, carefully constructing with his brushes a beautiful painting on a canvas. Little by little the image takes shape, the colours of the background and then the detail of the foreground emerge. Then, when it is finished, and the picture is finally unveiled for all to see, people are amazed at its beauty. Who gets the praise? The picture or the artist?
What a stupid question, you may well say! The artist created the painting, he gets the accolades from all the critics who marvel at his workmanship. No-one congratulates the painting on creating itself. All the praise, rightfully, goes to the artist for what he has done. Isaiah poses a similar situation in respect of a pot having been made by a potter. The vessel cannot say to the potter that you did not make me. Or tell the potter, “You know nothing”!
But the arrogance of man is such that instead of science being seen for what it is – an amazing journey of discovery of the incredible world that God has made – the underlying belief of many scientists, especially those who influence education and the media, is that the world made itself without the aid of a creator! I’ve not noticed any of these famous names walking into an art gallery and congratulating a painting on having painted itself or telling a pot how well it made itself.
I do find it hard to understand how such wise men, who wouldn’t be so stupid as to say such things to a painting or a pot, are so blinded to the fact that that is exactly what they are saying to the universe and everything in it. I believe that God shakes his head in disbelief at the supreme arrogance and ignorance of otherwise clever men and women, who are like a pot saying to the potter, “You know nothing!”
Prayer: Lord, I ask that you will open the eyes of men and women to recognise who you are, so that when they see the amazing pictures you have created for us to enjoy, they will once again worship the Artist and not just praise His paintings. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Peter Horrobin is the Founding and International Director of Ellel Ministries. The work was originally established in 1986 as a ministry of healing in the north-west of England, but today the work has spread round the world, with Ellel Centres in over thirty nations. Peter has been doing lots of writing recently, including the "Journey to Life" series which can be purchased online at sovereignworld.com.
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