Hands raised. A weak voice that knows it needs something greater. Crying out. As the child looks up to their parent, the message is 'pick me up, I can't do it' or maybe 'pick me up, I need you' Its all the same.
I can just picture in my head when I was a little girl running to the legs of my parents and grasping on tight. Its a place of safety and goodness. Its home to a child. As a little one, when you get tired of being so little, you asked to be picked up--not just to see from a much better vantage point, but to be with your parent. Unity. Comfort. Love. But to get there means asking and abandonment of self.
I love this picture. Because its the complete opposite of my nature and therefore a constant reminder of what posture I should hold. Let me explain...
Way back when...far before our country's slavery, slaves and masters existed. A slave was often 'marked' on their hands or even forehead to indicate who they belonged to. It served a few purposes. It reminded the slave whose they were. A constant stain on their skin that said they were bought with a price and forever owned. In the chance they escaped it would constantly remind them of their worth. Yet there was another purpose--one I love far more. If the slave was ever out or about to be kidnapped, they could simply throw their hands in the air to reveal whose they were. It was an indication again that they were bought with a price, they belonged to another. It was protection. It most cases, this would save them as no one wanted another man's slave with a constant 'mark' who another master. You see, the mark is irreversible. What's done is done. It can not be undone or taken away.
Thats why I love that Scripture uses the imagery of slaves to describe us to our Master. We once were a slave to sin but once we were bought with the blood of Christ, we are now a slave to righteousness. It was for freedom that Christ set us free!! We too have a figurative mark. One that says 'we are His, we were bought with a price and what's done is done' So why do I live like I'm waiting to be marked???
Because of this mark, I can stand with self abandoned--'with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the one who gave it all.' I can stand knowing that I can never be taken, its irreversible and came at a high price. My God bought me. We hate the language 'He owns me' because we think it makes us sound like puppets. Rather its obedience. Those who know they were bought do as their Master says. They even come to their Master with the arms of a child raised and say 'pick me up daddy, I can't keep doing it on my own...'
In '06 I spent the summer in Santa Cruz California (best summer of my life..) One of my close friends that summer was Kelly. She had a simple tattoo that I've always considered getting. On her right wrist this was scripted "The Lord's" She explained that it was a constant reminder of who she belonged to and a way she could tell other's about the God she worshipped. I love that...
Its why we can look forward to another day. Revelation 13 says we will be given a new mark--most easily translated from the original language as a tattoo. We are prone to wander and leave, I think we need the constant reminder...its good for our soul.
So no, this is not an announcement of me getting a tattoo. But it is a declaration of the mark I've been given. I was bought, redeemed, and given new purpose. It begs the question, what kind of mark will I make because I've been marked. Blessings.
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