How art is making me a better student of God’s Word
This morning, I was reading about Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22. I noticed myself just skimming over the words. That antsy feeling welled up in the pit of my stomach, and I felt the urge to rush and “finish” my study. After all, I know the gist of what’s being said, and I’ve got other things to get done today.
And then it struck me. This is the exact same resistance I experience in art.
I’ve heard it said again and again… If you lack skills in drawing, you don’t have a drawing problem, you have a seeing problem.
When I sit down to draw, I feel my brain’s resistance to truly looking… seeing what’s there and not just filling in the cartoonish version that my brain uses to make sense of the world.
My brain is constantly arguing with me, saying, “Speed it up! You already have the information you need. It’s time to move on to other things. Chop chop!”
Not only does this tendency rob me of the joy of art, it also robs me of seeing, appreciating, and meditating on the goodness of God.
The scene of Jesus’ baptism is literally an issue of life and death. How could I possibly skim over these verses (or any of Scripture, for that matter) without letting the weight of the Words truly rest on me? “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19) This is Truth too amazing to fully comprehend on this side of eternity. Let me never grow tired of looking at it!
In his perfect mercy and grace, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sins. Jesus lived the perfect, obedient life and then willingly gave me credit for his righteousness so that I can be reconciled to God. And God validated everything that Jesus said and did through his resurrection. This is unfathomable. I could never sit and look at the Gospel long enough to truly grasp its beauty. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may I never stop trying. And may art be a tangible way that I can practice this skill of looking to Christ. Amen.
