I Am Your Hands

That’s right, these are your HANDS talking!You’ve heard of people who “talk with their hands”? Well, this is your hands talking … just your hands … as if I’m a person talking to you, another person. Question: Have you ever realized how many things God designed me to do for you? Here are a few… I help you rub sleep out of your eyes each morning. If you take meds, guess who helps you do that? Hands are necessary when you leave your house and drive. See, we guide the steering wheel (and please, use both of us and make sure your phone is hands-free). I could go on and on because you use me, your hands, all day long … even if you don’t take meds and don’t drive! You depend on me more than you realize; that’s why I’m trying to bring you this important message. Face this fact: This very tract you are reading is being held by what? Your MOUTH? Your NOSE? Don’t make me laugh, it’s being held by ME—YOUR HANDS! God made me, your hands, with perfect precision. If my thumb were an inch longer or shorter, believe me—you’d lose 50% or more of your ability to get anything done. And God made me, like He designed all of your body, to assist YOU and to glorify HIM, in this life. The two guys who wrote this tract had to use their HANDS to guide their pen and computer, you know! Far too often hands are used only to serve ourselves … for sinful purposes, no less. Most of the Ten Commandments are violated with people’s HANDS, sad to say. The very best use of your hands, in addition to mundane-but-necessary things like brushing your teeth, combing your hair and so on, is to SERVE GOD and SERVE OTHERS. So, let’s use our hands to thumb through God’s Word and see what HE has to say about it (always a good idea)! USING YOUR HANDS TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE: 1 Thessalonians 4:11 - “aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands …” USING YOUR HANDS TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR OWN NEEDS AND THE NEEDS OF OTHERS: Acts 20:34 - “these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.” Ephesians 4:28 - “Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” TO SERVE GOD ARIGHT, WE MUST “KEEP OUR HANDS CLEAN” FROM  DEFILEMENT. Psalm 24:4-5 talks of having “clean hands and a pure heart.” 1 Timothy 2:8 speaks of lifting up “holy hands” to God. Many guilt-ridden people wash their hands constantly to try to get rid of guilt they carry around. Only God’s forgiveness can forever remove our guilt! And though we, your physical hands, can, with proper training, be a concert pianist or accomplished artist, the best use of us is to … FOLD YOUR HANDS IN PRAYER AND SEEK THE HELP AND GUIDANCE OF THE LORD AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. Seek salvation, by praying for it! I’ve talked enough about human hands. Let’s talk about the hands, the PERFECT hands of the Lord Jesus Christ!Jesus’ hands were pierced with spikes when He was nailed to the cross. Those who crucified Him didn’t know it, but He was being crucified for the sins of all who would believe on Him! In John 20:24-29, Jesus urged “Doubting Thomas” to examine where the nail prints were, in His hands, as proof that he was crucified, buried and rose again. In Acts 2:23, Peter preached that “by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God,” Jesus was crucified and put to death “by lawless hands.” Many use their hands to do “good works” that they think will earn their salvation and land them in Heaven when they die. If YOU think that way, I wish I could shake you and wake you up! Ephesians 2:8-9 distinctly says we are saved by grace through faith, NOT of works…it is the gift of God. It’s a gift you use your hands to receive. You don’t use your hands to try to earn salvation, because you cannot earn it! As the hymn writer says, “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.” We bring nothing to God but our sin, our guilt and our shame, and in exchange, if we believe on Jesus Christ, we receive the right to go to Heaven when we die. DO THIS TODAY! And thanks for reading. —Chet Jelinski and Gus Schoepfer, M.T.