God the Unselfish

The very first thing we see in Genesis is God creating (Gen 1.1-31). This of itself is remarkable. The God who needs nothing creates everything. What does this tell us about God? For one thing, it tells us He is unselfish. People often dream of being wealthy and powerful so they can have everything just the way they want it. And in their perfect, dream world, they are free and unencumbered from the unwanted needs and demands of others. This dream is so popular today that people increasingly choose not to marry or have children because those relationships severely stifle one’s freedom. “Needs and demands — not good!” But we see something very different with God. He creates a whole world filled with trillions of things and animals and people who are totally dependent on Him. Talk about needs and demands! Yet God calls it all “very good”! (Gen 1.31.) When we compare the perfect, dream world we imagine with the perfect, real world God created, we can only be amazed at how unselfish God is – and ashamed of how unlike God we are. It turns out our intuition regarding the nature of true happiness is wrong by a mile. If we would move toward happiness and fulfillment, we must be more like God, not less. True, our fallen world presents challenges not inherent in the world as God created it. Still, the main source of our unhappiness is not without but within. And it lies precisely in the degree to which we now fail to image the One in whose image we were made. So this day, if we would be more happy, more fulfilled, let us look upon the ties we have, the responsibilities we bear, and the needs of those who depend upon us and say, “Very good!”