It’s interesting how much we can learn about people by looking at their hands. Whether they’re wrinkled, tough, well-manicured, or scarred, they tell a story if we choose to pay attention. Yet no matter how young, old, or worn our physical hands are, as disciples of Jesus, our palms are spiritually pierced. Because our Savior was wounded for our healing, as we follow in His footsteps and seek to lead with His heart, we take on His scars, and His sacrifice inspires us to touch the untouchable. In fact, when we study the ministry of our Lord, His healing virtue is nearly always imparted through physical contact. Though His words spoke the universe into existence, when He touched people, the power that surged from Him made them well. Indeed, it was touch that restored the leper, multiplied the bread that fed the 5,000, healed the woman with the issue of blood, and blessed the little children who came to Him. And today, though He no longer walks among us, our Savior has entrusted to us the same healing ministry through the extension of our hands. As His followers, we are honored to invoke His grace and compassion on behalf of other people so that His Kingdom can gain greater influence on the earth.

My friend, you are blessed to lay down your will in service to your Savior. Because you were bought at a price, you are no longer your own — your life belongs to Him, and He wants to use your pierced hands to do miraculous things in His Name. He invites you to transfer His mercy to those who are broken, downcast, and beyond hope, and to get in the trenches of tribulation with the most wounded. As you continually offer Him all that you are, His power will surge through your submitted spirit and bring Heaven to earth through your tender and compassionate touch.