Hands Like My Saviour- Melissa Bingham

Hands are truly amazing features to the human species. The human hand is very unique and special in it’s design. It is the one part of our body that would be almost impossible to imagine living without. The blind use their hands to “see” the world around them. The deaf use their hands to “speak” to the world around them. Hands are used to build up or tear down great structures. They are used to create detailed, intricate designs. Hands are used to convey love, care, and sympathy to others.

Each set of hands tells a very unique story, over the years gathering scars and marks that tell the stories of what those hands have been involved with. You can tell a lot about a person by their hands. A mechanic’s hands might be a little grease stained, and perhaps a little battered and bruised. A pianists’ hands will most likely be soft, and have long graceful fingers. A carpenter’s hands would most likely be rough and calloused from hours of working with the tools of the trade.

Yes, each hand tells the story of the one whom it belongs to, and none more precious than the Hands of our Saviour. His Hands tell an amazing story of sacrifice and love. The Lord gave me this Acrostic to describe just five characteristics of the His hands that each of us would do well to try to emulate with our own hands.

H – Helpful. The Lord’s hands were always being used to help, or uplift those around Him. All through the New Testament we see time after time where He used His hands to help those in need. In Mark 8:23-25 the Bible tells of a blind man that Jesus healed. In this instance, the Lord put spit on his eyes, and then put His hands on him. We know from other miracles that Jesus could have simply spoken the words as He did to Blind Bartimaeus, and the man would have received his sight, but Jesus chose to touch this man. The Lord used His hands to break the bread at the feeding of the five thousand. In any of these situations the Lord could have just spoken the miracles in to existence, but He chose to use His hands to bless those around Him. In Proverbs 31:20 the Bible says, “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.” We should be using our hands to help those around us. The poor, our neighbor, a family member, a stranger might all need a helping hand, and we should use our hands like the Hands of the Saviour to help those around us.

A – Agile. The Lord’s hands were extremely skilled. He was trained as a carpenter by His earthly father and I have no doubt was very skilled in that trade. The Bible tells us in John 14:1-2 that He is preparing a place for us. He did not say that He was watching the angels prepare a place, or that He was speaking a place into existence for us – He said that He was preparing a place for us. Imagine, the Lord Himself working diligently on OUR Heavenly home! What a masterpiece each one of those must be! The world is full of God’s handiwork, and of His amazing versatility and skillful work. We have each been given talents from the Lord and we should use our hands to perform those skills so that we can bless those around us. Maybe it would be sewing, or carpentry, or writing, or simply holding another’s hand while they are going through a difficult time.

N – Nurturing. The Lord used His hands to nurture those around Him. In Matthew 19:13 & 14 parents were bringing their little children to the Lord, and the disciples were turning them away, but Jesus rebuked them, and welcomed the little ones openly and willingly. He sat them on His lap and blessed them. Jesus was also faithfully nurturing His disciples along while He was with them here on earth, consistently and patiently teaching them what each parable meant. He wanted them to have a solid understanding of what He was teaching them. My favorite example of Jesus’ nurturing with His hands is found in Revelation 21:4 a , “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; …” One day the Lord will wipe away our tears and take away all sorrow and suffering from us. Are we nurturing others with our hands? Are we tenderly and lovingly discipling those around us, teaching them and training them so that they are prepared to do those things alone? There are many people around us that are suffering from heart aches or from sin. Many more who are just unlearned of some of the things that we know. We should use our hands to extend love and mercy to them as the Saviour extended those blessings to us.

D – Dear. The Hands of our Saviour are Dear. They are precious and they carry the scars of the greatest sacrifice of all time. Our Saviour’s hands were pierced for our transgressions as He gave His life on the cross of Calvary for me, the chiefest of all sinners. Luke 24:38 shows us a picture of the disciples hunkered down in a room, terrified of what might come, when the Lord comes to them. How does He try to convince them that it is indeed Him, the One who died for them? “Behold my hands, and my feet, that it is I myself:…“ We may get to Heaven one day and not be able to tell the difference between Mary and Martha, or John and James, but we will know without a doubt which hands belong to the One that died for our souls. Now, we cannot be crucified for those around use today – there is no need for that, but we can be dear with our hands and show others the love of the One who did die for them. We can use our hands to sacrifice for others, and to give of ourselves completely.

S – Safe. There is no safer place in all of this world than to be in My Saviour’s Hands. John 10:28-29 says, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s Hand.” That is pretty safe and secure! I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to pry something from someone’s hand, but it is pretty hard to do! This makes me know that my soul, my life, everything that I have or that I am is safe in Jesus’ Hands. Those closest to us should feel safe in our hands. Not just with their lives, but with their needs, burdens, and sometimes their secrets. Proverbs 31:11-12 tells us, “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Her husband trusted her completely to care for all that he had entrusted to her hands and she did not let him down. We should strive to make those nearest us feel safe in our hands.

I believe the hand is one of the most amazing tools that the Lord gave us, and I believe that we will give an account of how we use those tools. Proverbs 31:31 says, “Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.” I want to hear well done for all that I use my hands for. I pray that we can use all use our hands as those of the Saviours.