Daily Word of Grace # 116 (August 25, 2020)
Many people have tattoos. Often these tattoos have a story. While some tattoos may simply be the result of making a rash decision while inebriated, many have a deeper significance or a story behind them. It may be a tattoo symbolizing a significant event in one’s life, or a tattoo in memory of a loved one who has died. It may be a tattoo of a favorite band or a hero, a cherished place or a word of prayer. It may be a tattoo of a person deeply loved. There is a beautiful passage in the Old Testament book of Isaiah in which the great prophet wrote about God having a kind of tattoo, “I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15-16). In other words, you are so significant to God, so much on God’s mind and in God’s memory, so much one of God’s favorites, so deeply loved by God that you are inscribed on the palms of God’s hands. On Good Friday, Jesus’ loving hands were nailed to a cross out of love for you. When the Risen Jesus appeared to his disciples he did not hide his scars, but showed them to his disciples (John 20:24-29). And even now the scars of the Risen Jesus demonstrate that you have always been, and will always be, inscribed in the palms of God’s hands.
Love and Prayers,
Dave