God’s Tattoo
Isaiah 49: 8-16
When my grandson Isaiah was three years old he had a problem of wondering off and hiding. One day my daughter Maeghan and my wife Becky where shopping at a local mall and of course, he slipped off. All of a sudden they realized he was missing. They panicked, running around the whole store calling his name. But he never answered. The sense of loss was overwhelming. How could he have gotten away that easily? Where could he have gone? Or the worse fear of every parent….. has someone taken him?
There in a single moment, Maeghan and Becky went from a pleasant shopping trip to total devastation. In a blink of an eye they had lost the most precious thing in their lives.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever lost sight of one of your children? It has to be one of the worst feelings in all of life.
Did you know that this is the way Our Father feels about us? He knows we are lost and hiding from Him and his heart burns for us to be found. We are his children, and he cannot forget nor forsake us.
Did you know that we are not only in God’s heart but that we are so special to Him that we are engraved on His hands. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. That is how Isaiah described God’s intense love for us. Isreal had drifted away from God and now He offers them restoration.
Sermon ending—tie-in
That day, Maeghan and Becky found Isaiah hiding beneath a rack of clothes. I can’t express how much their hearts leaped with joy when they found him. Have you wandered off from God? Are you hiding from Him? If so, today in this holy sanctuary, listen, listen with your heart. You may hear God call your name. You may hear him say, there you are, I have been looking everywhere for you. Come out from your hiding and into my loving arms. Come to the one who loves you most. Did you know, “Your name is tattooed on my hands”?
To the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven and the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.