OPINION —
Long ago the Prophet Isaiah spoke of the beauty of the feet: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news” (Isaiah 52:7). Years later the Apostle Paul reminds his friends in Rome of the beauty of feet when he quotes Isaiah’s exact words in Romans 10:15.
Both men were, of course, using the metaphor of the feet to emphasize the significance of those who share with others the good news of God’s salvation. Their reference to feet had nothing to do with the physical appearance of feet.
As the good news of Jesus spread across the world, people began speaking of Christians as “the hands and feet of Jesus.” Here again is a metaphor that symbolizes the beautiful ministry of followers of Jesus. Surely Isaiah and Paul would applaud these words: “How beautiful are the hands of those whose touch makes others aware of the love of Jesus.”
In hundreds of ways Christians use their hands in loving ministry. One example is a church garden where men tend the growth of vegetables and harvest them into a food pantry to become available to hungry neighbors. How beautiful the hands of those men!
Another example is a group of women who use their hands to sew large Raggedy Ann dolls that are given to a local ministry, the Sunshine Center. The Center gives them to abused children of broken homes. How beautiful the hands of those women!
Examples are plentiful as we observe people using their hands and feet to serve Jesus. I think of John, retired after a career as a trained nurse. John’s friend Nathan was struggling with the pain of a terminal illness. John went to Nathan’s home often; there he used his skilled hands to rub ointment on Nathan’s back and legs to relieve his pain. How beautiful the hands of John!
The loving touch of a human hand can be an extraordinary blessing. I shall never forget how much it meant when my wife touched me tenderly, caressing my forehead or simply taking my hand. Her touch symbolized her love for me, her need for me, and our need for each other. How beautiful were the hands of my dear wife!
Bill Gaither has written many songs but few more inspiring than “He Touched Me.” My heart melts whenever I sing these words:
Shackled by a heavy burden, neath a load of guilt and shame,
then the hand of Jesus touched me, and now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, O He touched me, and O the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened, and now I know, He touched me and made me whole.
What inspired Gaither to write that song may have been Luke’s story of the woman crippled by Satan for 18 years. Jesus met her while teaching in a synagogue one Sabbath. Luke says: “She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ Then immediately she straightened up and praised God” (Luke 13:12-13).
I love that story! That dear woman could have written Gaither’s song, for Jesus touched her and made her whole. Christ followers can testify that when Jesus touches us, we too straighten up and begin praising God. His beautiful hands change our lives.
We know that when Jesus touches us, he fixes us so we can use our hands to touch others in loving ministry. He redeems our hands and our souls so we can use our redeemed hands as though they were His hands.
After Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples, he said to them: “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:14-15). So, how do you wash another’s feet? With your hands!
Would it not be wonderful if Jesus, observing the lives we are living, could say with great joy, “How beautiful the hands of my faithful disciples.”
Look at your hands and say, “How beautiful my hands can be in the service of Jesus!” Offer Jesus your hands. He will guide you to use them for His glory.
Now, having read this, feel free to do what King David said do in Psalm 47:1 — Come, everyone. Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise!
