Vincent Van Gough

Vincent Van Gogh, Self Portrait.

An artist’s work is a very personal thing, an artist when he creates a work of art puts something of himself into the work making it uniquely his.  There is much that can be learnt about an artist from his work.  Vincent Van Gough for example did a series of self-portraits.  He went through a period of insanity so there are self portraits showing his ear bandaged after he cut it of and sent it to a girl he was fixated on. 

There are paintings of the girls Vincent liked, there are landscapes of the field that surrounded the towns he lived in.  There are paintings of his house , his bedroom, his clothes even the boots he wore.  

The style Vincent uses tells us much about his state of mind at the time the painting was being worked on.  Quick dashed brush strokes as if he is painting in a frenzy of action and thought.  Other works, like the series he painted of the laborers who lived around him show a slower more contemplative approach, a real sympathy with the people in their poverty and struggles of life.

But they do not show us everything about Vincent, they leave much out. For a deeper understanding of Vincent you might read about him in a biography.  There you may learn about his brother who supported Vincent throughout most of his life, his early life struggle with faith and belief, of his being driven from his home because the neighbours thought he was a danger.

You could have discovered even more if you had met Vincent , if you had had the chance to observe him, speak with him, to question him, then you may have found out his thoughts, his hopes, his plans and gained a more complete picture of the man.
God is the master artist, and all that exists is his Masterpiece.  It is a wonderful place, plants, animals, rocks, minerals all have a beauty, we get glimpses of the creator in what He has made.  The world like Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings tell us something about God.  We can see God is powerful,  to have created this universe required immense energy and authority.  The world is varied and extra ordinarily beautiful, God must be imaginative and creative.  To keep the world turning year in year out, to watch humanity do the stupid things it does requires a God who is patient.

But there are real limits to what we can learn about God just from his creation.  If we want to know more about God we need to look elsewhere. 

There is a better place to find out about God and what he is like.
God loves us and wants us to be in no doubt about what he is like.  He has taken the trouble to reveal himself to all people in the Bible.  It is in the Bible that we read about God coming into the world to show us himself, to tell people what he wants of us and how we can have a relationship with him.

If you’re serious about finding out more about God why don’t you start by looking in the Bible.