18 May//

"See I have engraved you on the palms of my hand." Isaiah 49




It's such a well known verse isn't it? One we've heard so many times and that carries the message that we are so familiar with - we follow a God who loves us and cares for us. I don't know how many times you've heard that message, I would imagine for me it would stand in the region of thousands.Yet, even after hearing it so many times, I so often need to hear it again. 


In Isaiah 49, we see a beautiful prophesy of the Messiah who will come. A snapshot of Christ before He even came to bring salvation. The salvation story can often become lost in our hearts because we become so familiar to it. I know for so long it has become like that in my own life and I've not tasted the reality of the Gospel over the last weeks.


Without this Gospel story though there is nothing. Without Jesus, there is nothing. Christ brings hope, brings blessing, brings salvation and brings grace. What is so exciting about Isaiah 49 is that before Christ even came, the salvation and Messiah that were promised, were already being made personal. 


Today, as I start a new day, I want to be refreshed in a new and real understanding of the Gospel. I don't want it to be a familiarity but rather for it to be constantly unfathomable and utterly breathtaking. What is so incredible is that Jesus took concern in me and engraved my name on his palms. He gave himself up to allow me to have that relationship with God. More than that, He believes I am precious! He knows my name and knows my heart better than I do myself. 


I'm encouraged today that God gives grace anew every day and that He loves me. Unreservedly, unconditionally, He loves me.