February 5, 2016
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.” Revelation 1:17
Within the Bible’s content, there are several words which were part of Christ’s ministry which had and have an impact on those who listened and read His Word. In this writing, I would like to explore one of them, the word hand.
Referring back to the noted verse, how thankful we should be when He places His hand upon us. It is in this manner He shows His love and care. A commentator notes “the First and the Last” refer to the Lord’s “eternal existence, His becoming a Man and dying on the Cross, and His glorified Resurrection state.” Isn’t it wonderful that through a part of His body we shouldn’t be scared of what we have been given within our life?
Our Lord used His hand to heal. Think of how He used it to heal the man with a shriveled hand. There are a couple examples in Matthew 8. He reached out His hand and touched a man with leprosy. Several verses later, His hand was placed on Peter’s mother-in-law. In one situation, His hand helped to make someone clean while the other was significant in relieving one of a fever. How powerful what one part of the body was and still is.
I believe the most significant verse using a hand was when the Lord directed Moses to use his in directing the Israelites to cross the Red Sea to escape and be free from the reign of Pharaoh. “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea” (Exodus 14:21a) Later, they realized they were safe when the Lord’s instructions were repeated as this enabled the waters of the sea to destroy the Egyptians.
A powerful use of the hand is using it in prayer. We hold hands with others in a group prayer. As individuals, we use our hands to be either lifted up or folded in our talking to God.
Prayer: Lord, we are thankful for what we possess and saw it within your life, a powerful instrument of our body. Make us a grateful people for this. Amen.
Jeff Spang