“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”
Isaiah 49:15-16 (NIV)
Engraved
Back in 2012 TSN, Canada’s Sports Network, introduced a series called Engraved On A Nation. In the first season the series focuses on the 100th anniversary of the Grey Cup and the CFL’s indelible mark on Canadian culture. From wrestlers and marathon swimmers, to the intensity of a soccer fan club, every sport has a tale that plays an intrinsic role in Canada’s history and national identity. Each episode is 60 minutes long and is available on the TSN website.
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This past Christmas, as we put the decorations on the Christmas tree, we enjoyed reminiscing about past Christmases as we hung decorations that had been engraved with the year we had received them as gifts. Engraving something gives a sense of permanence and meaning. This is the point of what God says to us in Isaiah 49:15-16: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” God doesn’t miss a thing and He doesn’t forget anything either. He uses the analogy of a mother’s love for a child and engraving us on the palms of His hands (not that he actually has physical hands) to assure us of His love for us. That love never wavers. We are never out of His thoughts and we are always in His heart. As the worship song correctly describes it “the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.” Through faith in Jesus Christ, you can experience and be eternally assured of God’s unconditional and never diminishing love.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley