Yesterday at work two of my coworkers were complaining about their tattoos and how they wish they hadn’t gotten them. They were talking about having them removed and how painful and expensive that process is. Their lives and desires have changed but the tattoos remained.
I was searching for pictures of tattoos for this blog and couldn’t believe how many pages and designs of tattoos there were. This one struck me as one of the most interesting.
I wonder if he has any regrets!
People get tattoos for various reasons, including sentimental reasons, identity expression, cultural and social reasons, aesthetic appeal as well as a display of love honor or memory to someone or something.
A young man at the store had Proverbs 3:5-6 tattooed on his arm to help him memorize and live out his favorite scripture, another friend has her deceased family member's name on her wrist, and my brother Marco has tattoos all over his body, each tattoo has a special purpose and emotion attached. On his left arm is my mom’s maiden name, and his 6 children’s names, he had just enough space left for his watch.
God was the originator of tattoos just as He was the originator of everything created.
There is nothing new under the sun Ecclesiastes 1:9.
The Bible says, in Isaiah 49:16 - See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands...
God loves us so much. He will never leave us and can never forget us. He sees us and knows exactly what is going on in every aspect of our lives. He is constantly thinking about us and we are always on His mind. Psalm 139 We cannot escape His presence, no matter where we go or what we do. He doesn’t need to tattoo our names on His palms to remember us, because He is incapable of forgetting.
I am embarrassed and ashamed when I am experiencing a “down in the dump day” because I can’t sense God and I am lonely, and joyless. I feel out of sorts and detached. I’ve taken my eyes off of God and begrudgingly drown in a pool of despair. I struggle with connecting intimately with my Lord but miss the heavenly mark. The spiritual home in my temple is unoccupied and I feel like one of the “walking dead.” (Thank God this is a very rare occurrence!) But it does occur.
Did God leave me? Does He have dementia and doesn’t know where I am, or what I need? Did He turn His back on me? Does He even exist? Is His Word true? Is He hiding from me? Does He not care? Did my tattooed name fade off His hands?
Not a chance! I, forgot Him, His name, His power, and that He is able to do all things Eph. 3:20
I forgot that He is too good to not believe. I had amnesia concerning Psalm 139 and His overwhelming love for me. I failed to put Him first place in my life and to delight myself in Him.
He can turn my “down in the dump days” around if I seek Him. He is always up to something good and always moving toward me. I’m the one who moved. I’m the one who needs His name tattooed on my hands. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
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