"Poiema" unveiled...

Blame it on Hersch...he asked what "poiema" means. ;-)

From Strong's: Word 4161. 1) that which has been made.2) a work. a) of the works of God as creator. Derived from Word 4160, "poieo". 1) to make
a) with the names of things made, to produce, construct, form, fashion, etc.
b) to be the authors of, the cause c) to make ready, to prepare...etc.

It's the word used in Ephesians 2:10--"We are His workmanship (poiema)". His creation. His handiwork. Something He has produced and made ready. Good stuff, eh?

That's the "technical" stuff. The personal story behind it is:

"Poiema" is the title of one of Michael Card's CDs from a few years ago (1994). Since I'm not a Greek scholar, that was my first exposure to the word. Being a "wordaholic", though, I DID go immediately and look up the meaning. :-)

One of the songs on the CD is called "Poem of Your Life". I'm trying to find the lyrics and, of course, can't. At the moment. I WILL find them and I'll post them, but for now, I'll just post part of the liner notes...some of his comments about the purpose behind the music.

''The Bible tells us that we are God's masterpieces (poiema in Greek); not only creatures, but His creations, His poems (Eph 2:10). We are living epistles (2 Cor 3:3). And so, our lives are meant to be listened to, because it is God who is speaking into and out of and through the symphony of the years, and the masterpiece of a lifetime. "

Being a writer/poet/musician sort, I LOVED the fact that, in a way, I, as God's created work, am a poem...my life is a poem, a song that He's written for the world to hear. And I might be a simple short, sweet (I hope!) song, but I'm also part of this huge, magnificent, overwhelmingly beautiful SYMPHONY that spans heaven and earth and all our lifetimes--my little part in the symphony may be just that (little), but when you're listening to an orchestra play, sometimes, above the trumpeting brass and the resonating drum, you hear the briefest, sweetest trill of a flute...and it outshines everything for a second. I want my life to sing His song...the song that He's put in me to sing. And I hope I'm not off-key...