Today I was reading Isaiah 49:16: See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
We know that the book of Isaiah is filled with prophecies about Jesus. The book takes us from the original meaning of the word prophet as a person who speaks the truth from God; to the more modern definition, that a prophet is a person who foretells the future.
In Isaiah’s case, it is both.
God loves us so much that he personally knows each one of us. And God loved us so much that He gave Jesus to be hung on the cross—the palms of his hands pierced for us.
Do you remember when you were in third grade and you figured out that secret, sneaky way to write answers to test questions on the palm of your hand? It was brilliant. No one had ever thought of that idea in the history of public education. No one would ever know that you had secret answers. No one would know you didn’t deserve the grade you got.
So maybe our idea wasn’t so brilliant. But God’s idea was. No one but God could have thought up the idea of providing us with a savior to satisfy His own laws requiring a blood sacrifice for our sins.
No one but God has the secret answers.
No one but God can grant me mercy and grace—that I don’t deserve.
We stumble on through life…jotting crib notes and reminders on the palms of our hands. But we can remember that Jesus loved us so much that those reminders written on the palms of His hands were for us. It wasn’t cheating. It was open-palm, loving hands, pierced for us; our names written in his blood.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for your reminders and your plan. Thank you for never forgetting us and never forsaking us. Amen.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Tell the truth. Did you ever use your hand as a cheat sheet? [I did once and yes, I still feel guilty.]
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Today's post is part of the Christian Writer's blog chain. Our theme for August is "memory." Please follow the links to the right to see what my friends have to say about memory.
