Imagination

We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).

"Oh, what an imagination you have!" When I was little, a remark like that was borderline insulting; it implied that having an imagination was a bad thing.

Imagination in children used to be discouraged. Daydreaming wasted time; even worse, a wandering mind was fertile ground for devilish ideas. Imagining things was a sign of childishness, something you were expected to grow out of. No adult would be caught dead reading a comic book; science fiction was considered juvenile, the kind of second-class literature that booksellers would put toward the back of their stores.

But you need imagination to be creative. Those kids who read science fiction and watched shows like Star Trek have gone on to create all sorts of scientific marvels. Many advances in medicine have resulted from a person asking the question ‘what if?’ and trying something no one had ever done before. Inventions and new medical treatments depend on imagination.

Sadly, our modern world still discourages imagination. A child can find all sorts of uses for a ball or stick or piece of string. But most toys made for children do not stimulate creativity. One Barbi doll isn’t enough; you need a different one for every career and activity. One video game is about racing, the next is about hitting targets, and a third is about solving problems; but because they are so specialized, each game has a certain way you have to play it in order to win. These kinds of toys don’t encourage thinking ‘outside the box’; they limit creative play.

God gave us our imagination. God gave us the ability to picture things in our minds that cannot be seen or heard or touched. God gave us the ability to respond in faith when He reveals Himself through the words of the Bible. He helps us to see past the problems of today and picture a better tomorrow. He gives us the capacity to imagine what life will be like in paradise, a place where there is no pain or disappointment, no need or want or cares to weigh us down. Imagination is God’s gift to us, especially when life is dreary; encourage it in your children, and challenge yourself to ‘think outside the box.’