“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – Psalm 139:14, NIV

Some of my friends are construction workers like masons, carpenters, and plumbers. I am always impressed when they tell me: “I built on that house some 20 or 30 years ago.” There is a certain pride in those statements, which I can totally understand.

I always thought of people who create or produce real things with their work as especially lucky people. I guess there must be deep satisfaction when a house you built, a wall you painted, a piece of furniture you crafted or any other piece of work is still there even years later.

The same is true for artwork. Of course pride in one’s work is not limited to those who create products. I guess a nurse or doctor might be deeply satisfied when she sees a patient she took care of once, or a mechanic sees a car he repaired running smoothly afterwards, or when a teacher meets a former student.

You made a difference in this world. It does not even matter whether the product of the work is long lived. It can be satisfying when the restaurant guest obviously enjoys the special meal the chef prepared. Think of a farmer who harvests his crop to feed the people, or when a lawyer wins a case for her client and justice is served.

How wonderful can music be, even though the sound is only there for an instant. It can change the whole day for the listener. We all are constantly part of God’s creations, and we keep working on it in many different ways.

Our lines of work can be very different in nature. Our work might be a service or a product, and sometimes the results are not as obvious and easy to see, still, when our work has meaning to us and to others, it becomes special.

Mind you, of course there are also some tasks we have to perform that seem less spectacular or meaningful. However, what we do (or what we leave undone) makes a difference in this world. Even jobs that are not highly recognised or paid well are of importance, and we all would notice if they were not performed.

As a student I had summer jobs in a nearby factory, producing high-end designer door handles and wardrobe hooks which are often used in public buildings, even in Bermuda. When I worked there I just needed money for the next semester. I tried to do a good job, but I was not involved in the design or even in the ins and outs of production.

More or less, I put a metal piece in a machine, closed a door, and after a few seconds took the finished products out of the machine, the same movement for 8 hours a day. If the door handles showed any flaws or when problems arose, I called my supervisor. Still, I recognise the product line when I see it and think: Look at this, I once worked in that factory; and it fills me with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

Imagine how God feels about his creation and in particular his special creatures, us humans. There are about 50 trillion cells in each of us, 500 times more than stars in our galaxy.

Those cells have to work together in harmony to make the organism work. And each one of us is at the same time unique. Not only our fingerprints, DNA, or looks are unique, but our whole being is, the way we perceive the world and how we respond to it.

Our body, mind and soul form a unique person: I am unique and you are unique. Isn’t it because of this uniqueness that we feel grief when a loved one has passed? Nobody can replace another person. Each one of us is special and extraordinarily unique and God created us because he wanted each and every one of us to be part of his creation.

The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV)

Kind David pondered about this uniqueness in Psalm 139. It is one of my favourite psalms.

In this psalm, King David begins with the idea that God knows us like nobody else, he knows our ins and outs, how we were formed and made, and God knows where we are at any given moment. God has an incredible interest in each and every one of us. We might try to separate from him at times, to flee and hide from him, David says, but no matter were we go, God is already there and sees us and tries to connect with us.

God had something specific in mind when he created us. We are part of a much bigger picture, and we have significance in this picture. It is a piece of art and God is proud of it.

Last week my wife and I visited the National Gallery and saw an art exhibition about sunflowers and also other unique exhibits by different artists. We enjoyed the art work, the creativity, the colours and joy it entailed.

Have you ever wondered how an artist came up with the ideas, how she followed through and how the finished piece finally came to be?

At one point in his psalm, King David interjects: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalm 139:6, NIV)

Maybe I like this psalm because it reminds me that I was planned, I am not an accident, not just a whim of nature. In moments when life perhaps seems empty or meaningless, when my work might feel a little in vain, these words remind me that I am significant, unique and important. I am so important to my God that he seeks me out, that he longs to find me.

The Gospel of John is all about this relationship between God and us. Like David in Psalm 139 and the Bible as a whole, John begins with the creation. From the very beginning God had a plan for this world.

From the very beginning Jesus was involved in the creation as the creative Word of God, and in time the Word became flesh. This Word, Jesus Christ, is all about relationship and love, agape in the language of the New Testament. Everything is about love, all the law and all the prophets are summed up in the idea of love, Jesus says. Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. Why? “For God so loved the world,” John says, “that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NIV)

Knowing about this love, I read the Bible with new eyes. I hear God talking to me like he had Jeremiah talk to the Israelite in captivity: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 29:11-14a).

• Karsten Decker is a German theologian with a double degree equivalent to an MTheol and MDiv. He studied in Marburg (Germany), Knoxville (USA), and Toronto (Canada) and comes from a united church of Lutheran and Reformed Churches. He was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary Untied Methodist Church in Smith’s