In the 1969 film, The Illustrated Man, is about a man who is tattooed
over His entire body. Each set of tattoos tells a different story and the movie
unfolds one character after another with one story after another. One of the
tales in the movie is The Highway which centers on a husband and wife
living by a highway in rural Mexico. Their normal,
idyllic lives don’t change even as the highway fills with people fleeing a
nuclear war. The story ends with some young travelers they help telling them
about the nuclear war, and how the world is ending. After the travelers leave,
the residents briefly wonder what "the world" is, and then continue
on with their lives.
Although I watched that movie as a teen, I don’t remember ever knowing
exactly what it was about. To think that vignettes of stories were written in
the character’s tattoos is pretty amazing. His body carried the evidence. The
movie protrayed the tattoos.
While Jesus had no tattoos there was evidence of the Greatest Story ever
told written on His body. Two ragged horrendous nail holes through the palms of
His hands and the bones of His feet along with the sword wound in His side tell
an amazing tale of love, intrigue and death. Although His story on earth was a mere 33 years,
it does not end with death. His story is ongoing because of the resurrection
and the life. It is a never ending tale that began before the foundation of the
world and continues to this day and will go on throughout eternity. What a
wonderful story to tell, what a wonderful message to hear, what a magnificent
gift to receive.
As a believer you have a wonderful story to tell as well. Your
story begins before you were ever born. God says He knew you before you were
even formed in your mother’s womb. God
says that He has plans for your life to give you a future and a hope. God says
that you were predestined to give your heart to Jesus – that it was His plan
that you belong to Him and that you be sealed by the Holy Spirit and kept in
the love of God forever.
While we don’t get tattoos to prove we belong to Christ or
to tell our story, we do have something more wonderful for the movie of our
lives. The Word tells us that we are Christ’s letter and that the proof is
written on our hearts. He goes on to tell us to write His Word on the tablet of
our hearts. These words are not mere tattoos but rather the hand of God writing
on our hearts, right in the center of all that we are, so that we will remember
who we are in Christ and what He did for us always.
Oh beloved, God sees your heart. He sees where man wrote
castoff, diseased, unworthy, worthless, imperfect, done for and more. For many,
the finger of man points to every mistake, every problem, every trial and every
storm. The finger of man may have written you off, but behold beloved! God
Himself has written your name on the Palm of His hand! No mere pencil print
this is –you are engraved on His hand! You may have been erased from someone
else’s heart, but you will never be erased from God’s heart. He says you are My
beloved and I will never leave you or forsake you. Others may taunt you, dismay
you, reject you and walk away, but I AM your sure foundation. I AM your rock of
ages. I AM the One who will always stay with you . My Word is my bond and your
bond as well. I have written on your heart: redeemed, renewed, regenerated,
reborn, reconciled. There are other words as well. As you pick up My love
story, the Word of God, and learn of Me you will find that you are beloved,
beautiful, destined, cared for, watched over and more.
Your life and mine, as believers in Christ, are beautiful
illustrations of the One Who gave it all for us! Rejoice beloved, as the King
is calling you and writing the most amazing story of your life all on your
heart and for the world to see! He loves you and He’s for you and that’s the
most beautiful story of your life!
2 Corinthians 3:3 being manifested that you are a letter of
Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living
God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (NAS)
Psalm 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And
in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet
there was not one of them.
Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My
hands…
Psalm 40:8 I take joy in doing Your will, my God, for Your
instructions are written on my heart.
Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the new covenant I will make with
the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD. I will put my instructions
deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be My people.
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