Dear Friends,
Recently an old Sunday school chorus came to mind:
“Jesus’ hands were kind hands, doing good to all…”
Jesus used his hands to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to console the grieving, to pray, to break bread, and finally to receive the nails on the cross because of his love for us.
As we journey through Lent, to the cross and then to the joy of the resurrection at Easter, I couldn’t help thinking of Jesus’ hands, and the cruel nails hammered into them, and I thought of the Graham Kendrick hymn ‘The Servant King’:
Come see His hands and His feet,
The scars that speak of sacrifice.
Hands that flung stars into space,
To cruel nails surrendered.
Jesus had hands that would care, serve, heal, hold, pray, lead, share… hands that would be pierced, nailed to the cross in excruciating agony.
All for us, because he loves us!
What can we do to show our love for him?
How can we use our hands to serve him?
We need to place ourselves in the Lord’s hands and ask him to show us what it is he wants us to do.
But don’t be surprised if that means getting our hands dirty!
As Jesus’ disciples we are to follow The Great Commission; we are to go into the world to share his love.
Have been truly blessed during the teaching and discussions at ‘Cafe Church’ using The Prayer Course, I was reminded that the presenter finishes each video in prayer, submitting to God in a position of openness, surrender and offering to God, with open palms facing upwards.
Perhaps during your quiet time, you might try holding out your hands, palms faced upwards, and pray:
Thank you Lord, for your unfailing love for me.
Take me Lord, use me to serve you when, where, how and with whom you choose…
As the hymn continues…
So let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him
Each other’s needs to prefer
For it is Christ we’re serving.
Lord, this Lent and Easter, we pray for ourselves, may what we believe in our hearts, and profess with our lips, be seen in the work of our hands and in our daily lives.
We pray that we will be your hands, your feet, your eyes, your body in the world today.
We pray in the name of Jesus who placed himself in our hands, and whose hands were pierced for us.
AMEN