The Redirecting of My Life

People find different ways to figure out what type of person someone is; whether it is the type of clothes they wear, music they listen to, car they drive, house they live in, etc. But what if we looked at the person’s hands. Looking at my own hands I see callouses and scars. I am not bragging but my hands have done a lot. I have done many things with them including: carpentry, construction, maintenance, sports, and even using them to communicate (sign language). Each scar has a story whether it was me being foolish as a child, scars of a rough past, or scars that teach me from the errors of myself or others in a work place. Looking at a person’s hands you might be able to tell the type of work they do or maybe the past they had, but it does not necessarily tell of their personality, beliefs, or the pain and burden they bear. Who knew that the rugged hands of a carpenter would be the ones to bear the sin, shame, and pain of the world. This makes me wonder, did Jesus ever look at his hands? As he looked at them and seeing the ruggedness of years of carpentry, did he picture them with holes in them? Knowing that his hands will never be the same again when he took our burdens, did he get scared? My hands can endure physical pain, but when it comes to the pains of the heart they become worthless. But Christ has hands that, even though they are rugged and torn, bear a soft healing touch. I wonder what Christ’s reaction is when he looks at his hands now, seeing the holes and knowing the pain and burden they bore as he hung on the cross? Our hands can tell a story, but our hearts and actions tell a much more grand story. Just like Christ’s hand can tell a story, but his heart and actions gave us life and the greatest story ever told.