“Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” –Acts 13:3

            What are some of the things that you think about during your day? For me it starts out with if I want to shower or not in the morning, then what to eat, FIND COFFEE, what I have to get done at work today, then eating again, and then usually more about work, and then about all of the things that I have or don’t have to do that night. Then what happens? You go to bed and sleep. Hopefully. If you don’t sleep then what are you doing? You are probably thinking about the things that you need to remember or get done the next day at work or at home or for the kids. Now let me ask you another question. How often do you think about your hands? Yep, those things at the ends of your arms with the fingers on them. I bet the only time you really think about your hands is when they aren’t working right. When you have pain in your fingers or you broke it when you fell. Maybe arthritis is setting in and that causes your hands to be stiff and painful not letting you get things done you wished you could.

            As I did my personal devotion this morning one of the verses mentioned hands and it got me thinking. What are some of the amazing things you can do with your hands? Well first of all I can type this jumble of words in case anyone needs to kill some time and hear about Jesus. Some other things that you can do with your hands are write, lift, grab, shake, pray, praise, twist, work, design, and drink your coffee! Hands are pretty amazing things if you really start thinking about it.

            Some of the words that describe what we can do with our hands are words like handy, handcraft, handshake, handpick, and handsome! Okay being handsome isn’t necessarily something you do with your hands but it had the word hand in it and I couldn’t resist because let’s be honest. We are all handsome people! Anyway, another thing it got me thinking about were things that Jesus did with His hands. He prayed, blessed, healed, and taught along with many other things. He used His hands to help others in their time of need and faithlessness. The cool thing is that we can do the same thing because we are the hands (and feet…) of Jesus! We get to use our hands and abilities to show others the love Christ has for them.

            So what does that look like for you? How do you get to be the hands and feet of Jesus to others? Is it through your job? Your friendships? Your smile to the crabby check out person at the store? Being the hands and feet of Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean you have to use your hands to show people who Jesus is but sometimes it will involve it. I can think of many friends and people who are wonderful examples of Christ to others who do very demanding jobs with their hands. Plumbers, fire system inspectors, child care workers, engineers, etc. Hands can come in pretty hand…y. What makes us able to do all of these things and be the hands and feet of Jesus?

            It’s because Jesus used His hands And feet to show us what real love looked like. He prayed, blessed, and healed, but He also carried a cross, and took nails in those hands and feet to pay for all of the times that we are a handful. He handpicked and handcrafted every person and cared about them enough to willingly take on all of our sins so we can be examples to others of that love and forgiveness that He shares with us. So next time you are using your hands remember the important role that Jesus’ hands played in your redemption story.

Question for the day: How will your hands show Jesus’ love to someone else today?

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” –Audrey Hepburn