The Body of Christ—We Are The Workmanship of God’s Hands
Since I was a child, I have been fascinated with my hands and the hands of others. Others like my dad’s mom (my grandma) looked intently at someone’s eyes, but whenever I look toward another, I see their hands.
What is it about this body part that intrigues me?
- Is it the length of the fingers?
- Is it the calloused palms?
- Is it the tendons that move whenever the hand is put to work?
- Is it the strength of the hand’s grip?
Whatever it is (and maybe it’s all of the above that draws me to look intently at another’s and my own hands), I am so drawn to the uniqueness of this single body part.
Over the years, I have noticed how my hands have aged.
Over the years, I have noticed how my hands sometimes lose their grip and drop a cup, plate, or bowl.
Over the years, I have noticed how my hands have pulled others toward me to embrace.
Over the years, I have noticed how my hands enjoy holding the hands of a child’s (hand).
In the future, I hope there are many opportunities for my hands to AGE, GRIP, PULL, EMBRACE, & HOLD.
Yes, it would be such a blessing to grow old and maybe see my hands reach the age of 103.
What a great blessing it would be to grip a walking stick with my aged hand and still traverse a path when I am old.
I cannot imagine how it will feel to pull a grandchild and great-grandchild toward my heart with the softer hands that come with many years lived.
Oh, how wonderful it will be to embrace those I love, holding them within my hands, both those I already know and those who reside within the future who I do not yet know.
What a glorious thought to hold the hands of those God allows me to pray with before we share a meal or to pray with as we talk.
Have you ever thought about what God looks like? I have.
Whenever I attempt to “see” God in my mind, I see God with the same human characteristics I see in others I know.
That’s right, I can only seem to think of God’s body with the kind of body that mankind displays.
For example, I see:
- Legs that can stand.
- Feet that hold someone in place.
- Thighs of strength.
- Arms with bulging biceps.
- A neck of thickness and might.
- Piercing eyes of discernment.
- Ears that hear every prayer.
- A mouth that forms thunder and power.
Yet, when I see God within the smallness of my human mind, mostly I find myself focused upon the HANDS of GOD.
- Their Breadth & Depth.
- Fashioned & Smoothing.
- Loving & Guiding.
- Their Strength & Agility.
- Directing.
This intrigue caused me to read a passage from the Bible, one where the psalmist focused upon the “hands of God.” Although I know there are many other places where the “HAND of GOD” is displayed, today I would like to share one passage with you. Please Read With Me Psalm 95.
“O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also,
The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker,
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you would hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, . . . “
Then the psalmist writes, using the word “Me” in reference to God and how the people sinned.
“When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
Therefore I swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”
(Psalm 95: 1-11)
God fashioned us (with His hands) from the dust of the earth.
God directs us (with His hands) once we give ourselves, our lives to Him.
God holds us tightly (with His hands) as we daily need His strength and guidance.
God loves to hold us within the palm (of His hands) knowing He will never let us go.
- Let us raise our hands in praise to the King of Kings.
- Let us raise our hands in worship to our Savior.
- Let us raise our voices as we lift up our hands to sing in adoration to our Redeemer.
- Let us lift up our hands, open palmed, ready to serve our LORD.
- Let us draw others toward the love of God, serving these others with our hands.
- Let us bow down, placing our hands together in prayer—praying to our Father—sharing our praise, our thankfulness, and our concerns, hurts, requests.
God’s Hands.
We are so blessed to be held within the care and strength of our LORD’S HANDS.
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body is not one member, but many. . . .
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”
(1 Corinthians 12: 12-14 & 27)
- Let us be the Hands of God embracing those He has placed within our life path. &
- Let us be the Hands of God holding those He has given us to know. &
- Let us be the Hands of God, loving the lost He has given to us. &
- Let us be the body of Christ, using these beautiful hands He has given to us—to love, to hug, to serve, to encourage, to help, and to hold onto as we pray.
Let us BE the BODY of CHRIST as we use our HANDS to share JESUS.