(a father’s observations of his 4 year old daughter, his grandmother, and the hands of Jesus) “OUR LAURA had fallen asleep on the way into our Easter service. With my head bent, I began to study her as she slept on my lap. Hands! I studied her little hands. Have you ever noticed how small and delicate a four year old’s hands are? How unmarked by this life’s cares? She slept on, unaware of all that was going on around her!
HANDS! My mind wandered to another set of hands. Two weeks earlier, we watched and tried to comfort my Grandmother as she lay on her death bed. At ninety-six, she had lived a full life! Her greatest struggle was evident as we each took turns holding her hands and stroking her forehead. We spoke words of love and comfort to ease her anxious heart. Reminding her of Jesus and how His resurrection is giving her passage into His home. Her hands were not nearly as pretty to look at. They were now worn and gnarled by a long life of labor for those she loved. Now they were cold and mottled black with blown IV”s and approaching death. I remember that for at least two weeks, I couldn’t get the smell of death off my hands!
I ASKED MYSELF; Was Grandma not once a little girl herself? Did she ever fall asleep on her parents’ lap, to have her Mother or Father study her hands? Did they wonder what she would become? Did they wonder what those hands would do in life, for God and for others? Hands! We go through a cycle of life, and death is well known to each one of us. I caressed Laura’s hands, and she grabbed my finger in her sleep. Why do such tiny, beautiful hands, straight from our Creator, have to grow old and knobby and finally molder in a grave?
WITH THESE thoughts, I looked through my tears to the service. I listened to the words and music presented. Hands! There is another set of hands. Hands that were as small as any newborn’s. Hands that grew and handled woodworking tools in a masterful manner. Teen-age hands that grew to share meals with the hungry and to comfort the homeless. Hands that created this world with love. Hands that gestured to the surrounding meadows, water or pointed to the heavens while their owner shared eternity with His listeners. Hands of love that reached out and healed countless diseases, including the untouchable leprosy. Hands that defied death itself and, coursing with the Creator’s power, returned life to the lifeless. Hands that were nailed to a rough-hewn tree, until they too were lifeless. Hands that touched each of with His love!
THE ENORMITY of what Jesus did for us hit me with a power I have not known before. Death seems so final, so certain, but Jesus died for each one of us. Those nail-marred hands made it possible for us to be restored to eternal life. To restore the original cycle. Death will not always be able to lay claim to us. As I studied those little hands, I thanked God for what He has done for us. I pray that we will use our hands to hasten Christ’s return and to share His love with those around us. Jesus said; “if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away!” Matthew 5:30a Hands! What will our hands do for God today?”
WHAT will your hands do? Solomon says in the 9th chapter of Ecclesiastes, that men are in the hand of God. “For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him. Eccl 9:1 One fate is for the wicked, and one fate is for the righteous. Kind of scary but we have a choice. “Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or wisdom in hell where you could end up.” Eccl 9:10 Love is of God! You have heard it said that God loves the sinner but not the sin! Consider what your hands find to do. Knowing what is right or wrong only works when you do what is right! “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning; that we should love one another!” 1 John 3:11 HANDS! Jane Ann Crenshaw 4/29/16
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