Mark 6:3 "Is not this the carpenter..."
A carpenter never has soft hands. Sandpaper, saw dust and splinters leave His skin calloused and thick. Tender embraces given by those hands will always scratch a face. He was a carpenter, yet His touch never leaves scars. It does hurt as He polishes our hearts. But the pain comes from our resistance not from His hands. After His work is done the heart gleams, and everywhere there are little circular patterns. Like wheels within wheels, His fingerprints, stamped in our soul are our eternity.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The Potter, Fingerprints part 2
Jeremiah 18:6 "Behold as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel"
As a potter works, the clay, like a second skin, covers his hands. The film is so thin that all the little hairs on the back of his fingers are coated. The tiny particles get caught under his nails and in between the ridges of wrinkles. If he touches something the fine dust leaves red fingerprints behind. When finishing a long day at work the potter has red hands.
When He cried, "It is finished..." my potter too had red hands. His skin was covered with His own blood. The little hairs on the back of His fingers were completely coated. His nails were red, and the nails were red. And as He touches me and reshapes me, thank God, He leaves behind blood stained fingerprints. Those fingerprints are my salvation.
As a potter works, the clay, like a second skin, covers his hands. The film is so thin that all the little hairs on the back of his fingers are coated. The tiny particles get caught under his nails and in between the ridges of wrinkles. If he touches something the fine dust leaves red fingerprints behind. When finishing a long day at work the potter has red hands.
When He cried, "It is finished..." my potter too had red hands. His skin was covered with His own blood. The little hairs on the back of His fingers were completely coated. His nails were red, and the nails were red. And as He touches me and reshapes me, thank God, He leaves behind blood stained fingerprints. Those fingerprints are my salvation.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Sculpter, Fingerprints part 1
Genesis 2:7 "And God formed man..." The Hebrew word yatsar, formed, means "to press. Through squeezing into shapes."
See Him, knees bent on the soft sod, resting all His weight on one hand as He works with the other. He is totally absorbed in the task. Already He has finished the inward parts. The sturdy bone and soft sinew have been shaped. Hollow organs were carefully rolled between His fingers and then gently laid in their places. Now He is working on the eyes. They are the most critical part. As He leans in to inspect the eyebrows, His chin brushes against the molded nose and red clay stains His jaw.
Finished He inspects His work. He checks every cell. The lines are symmetrical and the curves balanced. But before He can call it good He checks for one last thing. Yes, they are there! Fingerprints. His fingerprints are stamped on the man's bones and skin: in his brain and on his face. The fingerprints of God, they were our beginning and they are our destiny.
See Him, knees bent on the soft sod, resting all His weight on one hand as He works with the other. He is totally absorbed in the task. Already He has finished the inward parts. The sturdy bone and soft sinew have been shaped. Hollow organs were carefully rolled between His fingers and then gently laid in their places. Now He is working on the eyes. They are the most critical part. As He leans in to inspect the eyebrows, His chin brushes against the molded nose and red clay stains His jaw.
Finished He inspects His work. He checks every cell. The lines are symmetrical and the curves balanced. But before He can call it good He checks for one last thing. Yes, they are there! Fingerprints. His fingerprints are stamped on the man's bones and skin: in his brain and on his face. The fingerprints of God, they were our beginning and they are our destiny.
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