I’ve heard that poetry is “the highest form of human expression.” It’s been called the “hieroglyphs of the heart” and an expression of “all that is beautiful, painful, real and imagined” – the stuff that makes life worth living. But I wonder if we ever think of God as a poet? The Bible tells us that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV).

I’ve always loved that verse. But when I looked at it in the original Greek, something jumped out at me. The Greek word Paul uses here is “poiēma” [ποιημα], translated into English as “workmanship” or “a thing made.” In Latin, the word is “poema,” which is the root for our word “poem.” While it’s not exactly a literal translation, with a little imagination, we could read the verse like this: “We are God’s ‘poem,’ created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has ‘written’ in advance for us to do.” It’s a small reminder that you and I aren’t simply a collection of molecules. Neither are we mechanical tools, cogs in God’s cosmic machine, used to simply get things done for God.

To God, each one of us is his poem. We are his masterpieces, his great triumph. Through Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, our heavenly Father has written his name on our hearts, making us his beloved sons and daughters. He has done this so that we might grow up as his children, joining him in all his activities. In this way all that we do exhibits a joyful fellowship and communion with him in which we demonstrate more and more the family resemblance to our heavenly Father and Brother.

So the next time you’re reading a great poem, stop and take a second to remember that in God’s eyes, through Christ, you are the finest verse he has ever composed.

I’m Joseph Tkach, Speaking of LIFE.