My son Timmy is now 3.5 months old, despite the fact it seems like I gave birth to him only yesterday. He’s lost that newborn look and is turning into, well, a little boy. He’s full of smiles, and he’s learning to reach out and grasp things (and then bring them to his mouth and gnaw on them with his drooly, toothless gums). Not too far in the future, he’ll be walking and talking. One day, he’ll start school, and all too soon after that, he’ll be asking for the keys to the car. Some days, I can feel time slipping through my fingers, and in those moments, I wish I could simply stop time forever and keep him just like he is right now.
Oh, I know he needs to grow up. I just don’t want him to do it too fast. So as the days sneak by, I try to hold a little piece of each one in my memory for later.
One of the things I most want to remember is the feel of him in my arms while he sleeps. I love cuddling him close as he rests, utterly secure and at peace. And I really love it when he leaves ear prints.
What are ear prints? They’re indentations in my arm, up near the elbow, in the shape of his ear, pressed into my skin by the gentle weight of his head lying trustingly against me. Why do I love them? Because they’re visible evidence of the moments of bonding and love my son and I have shared. Because they remind me of how much I love my Timmy, and how much he loves me.
This devotion could have been about how we can lie securely in God’s arms, trusting in His care and comfort. But it isn’t. It’s about the marks.
You see, just as Timmy leaves marks on me because of our relationship, so we have left marks on the body of Almighty God because of our relationship with Him.
God doesn’t have a body, you might say.
True, the Father doesn’t. But Jesus does. And upon His body, He still bears visible signs of His bond with us.
Jesus had nails driven through His hands and feet so He could hold us in His arms. He had a spear thrust into His side because of His love for us. And now, even in His risen body, He bears permanent reminders of the price of our relationship Him.
So yes, rest trustingly in His arms. Yes, be secure in Him. But don’t forget His wounds. It cost Jesus something to love us. In fact, it cost Him everything.
Isaiah 53:5—But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.