Livin Lively

By Peggy Lively

           I am a list maker. I make lists of the tasks I need to do, people I need to call or email, and things I need to get at the store. I make these lists in order to insure that I don’t forget anything important. However, sometimes I forget my lists. Many times I have gotten in the grocery store and realized that I left my list at home, in the car, or misplaced it all together. As a result, if there is something really important that I must not forget, I write it with a permanent marker on the palm of my hand. This way I will see it, and I can’t lose it.

           I thought of this as I read the following verse, “I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:15-16) The Lord is reassuring His people Israel that He will never forget them. If we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, we are His people too and are engraved on the palms of His hands. How are we engraved there? I wonder if the cross has something to do with it. Jesus said, “They have pierced my hands…” (Psalm 22:16) Jesus allowed them to pierce His hands because we were that important to Him. He loved us so much that He made a permanent mark as a reminder, not because He forgets, but because we forget.

          When Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection, he wanted to see His hands before He would believe.  He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” Jesus was happy to comply: “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’ Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:25-28)

          Do you sometimes doubt your worth and your value? Do you wonder how Jesus could really love you? Stop doubting and believe. He has put you on the palms of His hands with a permanent mark as an eternal reminder of how much He loves you…so much that He died for you.

“The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them.” (John 15:13, CEV)

^“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NIV)