Image of God
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life evermore.” Psalm 133:1-3
I recently saw a TV commercial in which a national restaurant chain was advertising a chocolate fountain being added to their buffet. If you’ve never seen a chocolate fountain, the idea behind it is very simple. Liquid chocolate pours into one bowl, which overflows into a bigger bowl, which overflows into an even bigger bowl, etc. You bring your boring, plain food to the fountain and suddenly it becomes exciting because it is covered in sweet chocolate.
This psalm talks about the chocolate fountain of friendship and community. If you took a few seconds to think about why you come back to Greystone year after year, I am pretty confident that you would put “friends” at the top of the list. Something special happens when you spend time with good friends. We feel joy. We feel welcomed. We feel safe. The “magic” of camp is friendships, and the Bible celebrates this. Whether you believe it or not, you were created in God’s image.
In Genesis 1:26, God said “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR own likeness.” This verse points to the fact that God exists in community with Himself through the mystery of the Trinity.
If we have been created in the image of a social God, it means we are built to live in community with each other. Psalm 133 talks about how blessed we are when we live in community with others. It mentions friendship being like “precious oil” or “dew” that overflows and becomes a blessing to others in this life.
But, even more than that, it mentions that this blessing extends into eternity. Oftentimes, we feel like our relationships with others are boring. How would your life change if you could view your friendships through the lens of Psalm 133?