Mending, Creating

Creation happens when something is absolutely new (not preexisting).  The word we’ve translated as “create” in Genesis is also used 48 times in the Old Testament, and always in this sense.

In Psalm 51, David says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”  He doesn’t say, “Mend my heart.”  Rather, “Create (make) a clean heart in me.”

David knew this could be done by God alone – not that a new physical heart muscle might be made, but rather that his inner spiritual heart, with its affections and lusts, its feelings and motives, might be made “new” - right and pure.  He realized this could happen only by God’s power since the spiritual heart beats by divine agency and cannot be manipulated by sheer human will. 

I’ve been thinking today about my mother’s darning egg and huge curved (sinister-looking!) darning needles that she used to repair socks.  We so often approach “fixing” the problematic holes in our lives, both within and without ourselves, in a similar manner.  Weave a new patch.  Remediate those circumstances.  Repair those physical/emotional/spiritual holes. 

At the same time, I’ve been thinking about the effect of God’s ongoing creation in me.  I may not always be aware of the effects of quickening until I look back and see the changes He has wrought over time, but He is constantly at work.  Not just patching holes, but making me new.