Power Verse…… “And (Jesus) came to Bethsaida. And people brought to Him a blind man, and begged (Jesus) to touch him. And Jesus caught the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when He had spat on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him, Do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people, but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus put His hands on his eyes again, and  the man looked intently, and he saw everything distinctly, even what was at a distance."  (Mark 8: 22 - 25)

May I ask you to look at your hand for a moment? Look at the back, then the palm. Reacquaint yourself with your fingers. Run a thumb over your knuckles.

 Just imagine if someone were to film a documentary on your hands? What if a producer were to tell your story based on the life of your hands? It may sound odd but play along. What would we see?

 As with all of us, the film would begin with a newly formed infant's fist, then a close-up of a tiny hand wrapped around mummy's finger. Then what? Holding on to a chair as you learned to walk? Handling a spoon as you learned to eat?

 We aren't too long into the documentary before we see your hand being affectionate, stroking your daddy's face or playing with a puppy. Nor is it too long before we see your hand acting aggressively: pushing big brother or yanking back a toy. All of us learned early that the hand is suited for more than survival-it's a tool of emotional expression. The same hand can help or hurt, extend or clench, lift someone up or push someone down.

 Were you to show the documentary to your friends, you'd be proud of certain moments: your hand extending with a gift, placing a ring on another's finger, bandaging a wound, preparing a meal, or folding in prayer. And then there are other scenes; shots of accusing fingers, abusive fists. Hands taking more often than giving, demanding instead of offering, wounding rather than loving.

 Oh, the power of our hands. Leave them uncontrolled and they become weapons: clawing for power, strangling for survival, seducing for pleasure. But controlled, our hands become instruments of grace-not just tools in the hands of God, but God's very hands. Surrender them and these five-fingered appendages become the hands of heaven.

 That's what Jesus did. He completely surrendered his hands to God. Were we to view the documentary of His hands we would see no scenes of greedy grabbing or unfounded finger aggressively pointing. It does, however, have one scene after another of people longing for his compassionate touch: parents carrying their children for His blessing, the poor bringing their fears, the sinful shouldering their sorrow. And each who came was touched. And each one touched was changed. If you read the gospels, you will be amazed by the positive impact the hands of Christ had on so many people.

 The final scene of Christ’s hands shows them torn, bleeding, and nailed to a Roman cross, and why? To demonstrate the length God was prepared to go to demonstrate His love for each of us……

“Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a noble and loveable and generous benefactor someone might even dare to die. But God shows and clearly proves His (own) love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners Christ, (God’s Son), died for us.”  (Romans 5: 7, 8.)

           That’s the greatest love of all.