2-25-2025

 Good Morning All,

        Isaiah 49:16; “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”

     When a group of rowdy boys get together, they often will start to compare scars that they have.  It might start with a small one on an elbow then a little bigger one on the knee; then a bigger one on the leg then pretty soon all are giggling and laughing and the stories get bigger and bigger.  Men rarely grow out of this.  During the movie “Jaws” there is a scene where Brody, Hooper and Quint are sitting around comparing scars.  At one point Hooper points to his chest and says he has the scar from when a little girl in junior high broke his heart.

     Scars can tell you a lot about a person’s life.  A person who works with glass or wire will show the marks of hard work.  A person who works around hot metal will do the same. Many bear the marks of a painful event which remains visible for many to see. A wound that is healed but not forgotten. At the time of our verse, it was common for a slave owner to carve his name into the hands of a slave so the slave’s ownership would never be in doubt.

    This is, essentially, what God is telling us he is doing.  God has engraved your name on the palm of his hand.  He has vowed to never leave you or forsake you just like that slave can never deny who owns him; God has promised to never forget you.  He has promised to never forget, and God never will forget. He made this promise long ago to Abraham in a vision where God passed through two halves of sacrificed animals. By doing this God was saying this would happen to Him if He broke his promise. We get that same promise in our Baptism into Jesus.

    We can find great comfort in this.  God will always be there to sustain through all the battles of this life.  God doesn’t tell us that we won’t have any battles only that we do not have to face them alone.  God is always there to comfort us, console us and to bear our burdens.  We can take comfort in that we are never truly alone.  At the times of our deepest pains of our greatest despair God is there to hear our cries and to keep us within his loving arms. 

     In this we can find our hope, the hope of eternal life.  In this we see God’s true promise made to us and sealed on Calvary.  God has carved your name on his hands.  He will not forget or forsake you.  We are forever in his gracious hands of love. Even in the depths of greatest sorrow, fear or loss; God is always there to give us peace. He gives us the certainty that a better day awaits us. He stands with His arms open wide to draw us into his loving embrace. So that we can know the comfort of his arms and the comfort of his grace. We may rest in the loving arms of our Savior who has claimed us to be his own.

Dear Lord, you have carved our names into your hands.  You keep us safe within those same loving hands.  With those same hands you allowed yourself to be nailed to the cross for my sins.  We give you thanks and praise for your great gifts of love.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor