Laced With Grace – Christian Devotions

Marked

By Heather C November 7, 2013 Devotion

I’ve recently seen a new game on the iPad about High school life. Players choose a character based upon cliques-do you want to be a preppy, a jock or band geek? The clothing and hairstyles that accompany those groups of people separate them from each other. Each student is marked by a style or attitude that clarifies where they belong.  And isn’t that what high school is all about?  Figuring out where you belong.

My husband wants to get a tattoo. Nothing gaudy or inappropriate, but something with a cross and personal significance. To mark himself as a follower of Christ, as a devoted husband and father. I’m content to just wear a necklace with a cross in it.  He knows where he belongs.  He belongs to God and He wants to proclaim it.

In Exodus 28:36, the high priest (Aaron) had a placard put on his turban, which stated “Holy to the Lord.” In other words, his head made it clear that he belonged to God heart and soul. Kind of like the golden ring around the fourth finger of the left hand-a symbol that this person is already taken, this person belongs to someone, this person is committed.  I don’t think jewelry or t-shirts or even tattoos really tell the story of our lives, but they definitely accent it. Are we marked “Holy to the Lord” in our words? Are we marked “Holy to the Lord” in our bank account? Are we marked “Holy to the Lord” in our home, in our work, in our neighborhood?

As the mother of three children who are rapidly approaching the teen years, I want to just grab a magic marker and write it on their foreheads. You belong to God. But it isn’t my choice. It’s theirs. They have to go before God and get His mark.  Isaiah promises that there will be a day when God pours out blessings on our descendants and they will say “I belong to the Lord” even writing on their hands “The Lords.” Just like Romans 12:1 reminds us, may every part of our lives be marked for Christ. May our hands belong to Him (whatever we do with them all day long), our feet (wherever we go), our minds (let our thoughts be covered by God’s holy calling), our hearts (may we be pure in heart).

To be marked by God is a great honor. It means He called us, He chose us, He redeemed us from a broken way of life. He pulled us out of the pit of despair and brought us into life. Now, we belong. We don’t have to feel like teenagers who wonder which clique is ours. We belong to God’s family. We are marked for Him and by His love.

It also means that my life is no longer mine.  I have given myself to the Lord and my life is now committed to His purposes.  Everything I do and say should be marked by God’s touch in my life.

What marks you?

Heather

 

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