What If...

Okay, this isn't a "Duct Tape Musing", but perhaps it's one of the musings of a delusional madman. In any case, I was having my usual contemplations while showering this morning, and the question occurred to me, "What if we are nothing more than toys in God's toy box?" 

Why did God created us?  Why do material things interest Him? He constitutes all of reality, and yet He seems to take pleasure in creating the material universe and creating living creatures within it.  Then He went a step further and gave us immortal spiritual souls, a piece of Himself it seems.  Why?  What if we are nothing more than trivial playthings for God?

Sure, He loves us.  Kids love their favorite toys, don't they?  Responsible kids take very good care of them, and if their modeling clay gets a little too dry they don't hold a grudge, they just fix it by adding a little water.  Well, the metaphor does break down fairly quickly, as all metaphors do.  But the essential question remains.

Well, as will happen with musings, my mind wandered to the movie, Toy Story.  What a cute movie that was.  Do you recall what the highest goal was for all the toys?  Yes, the thing that gave them their greatest meaning and pleasure was to please Andy, the little boy who owned them.  Sure, there were the all-too-common jealousies of wanting to be Andy's favorite. There were the conflicts that come from interactions between peers.  They sometimes did things Andy would not like, but in the end, Andy was the entire focus of their existence. 

Was that a bad thing?  No, I think the greatest aspiration for any creature is to fulfill the purpose its Creator had in mind to begin with.  If we are God's playthings, because it gave Him pleasure to create us, then making Him happy should be our greatest ideal and our greatest joy.  Andy's toys did not feel demeaned because they were "merely" toys.  No, being Andy's toy meant everything to them.

It did give God great pleasure to create us.  Yes, we are flawed, but He does not discard us.  In fact, He died for us.  Why?  Because it pleases Him to treat us kindly, compassionately, mercifully. Even when we make Him mad, He is slow to anger and rich in love.  I could not imagine anything more magnificent than to be one of the toys in God's celestial toy box that brings Him pleasure!