You Are the Hands of Christ - Homeword - October 9

You Are the Hands of Christ

This devotional was written by Jim Burns

You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. —1 Corinthians 12:27

If you are a Christian, then you are a part of the body of Christ on Earth. It's your hands, legs, and mouth that He uses to do His daily tasks in your world.

In Alexander Irvine’s novel, My Lady of the Chimney Corner, an old woman went to comfort a neighbor whose boy lay dead. She laid her hand on her friend’s head and said, “Ah, woman, God isn’t a printed book to be carried around by a man in fine clothes, not a cross dangling at the watch chain of a priest. God takes a hand wherever he can find it. Sometimes he takes a Bishop’s hand and lays it on a child’s head in benediction, the hand of a doctor to relieve pain, the hand of a mother to guide a child, and sometimes he takes the hand of a poor old woman like me to give comfort to a neighbor. But they’re all hands touched by His Spirit, and His Spirit is everywhere looking for his hands to use.”*

God’s Spirit is looking for hands, bodies, and minds to use. But He seldom uses us without our permission. We, like Isaiah, have to first say, “Here I am, Lord – send me.” That is precisely what God wants you to say in order to start your great adventure of service. Some people you know will spend their lives totally self-absorbed and will miss the greatest opportunity of life, which is to make a difference in our world.

GOING DEEPER:

1. Did you know you are the mouth and the hands and the feet of Jesus on earth?

What does Jesus want to say or do through you? Where does he want to go through you?

2. Can you say like Isaiah, “Here I am, Lord - send me?”

FURTHER READING: Isaiah 6:1-8

* Alexander Irvine, My Lady of the Chimney Corner (Flint: Apple Tree Press, 1981).

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