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I saw a lady with a tattoo on her shoulder which would have made a sailor proud. Me, I’ve never really wanted a tattoo. I don’t think it would make me better looking. As one fellow says, would you put a bumper sticker on a Ferrari?

There are a lot of people who feel that the Bible teaches that getting tattooed is a sin because of verses in the Old Testament like, “Don’t gash your bodies on behalf of the dead. Don’t tattoo yourselves. I am God.” (Lev. 19:28, The Message)

I suspect that verse has more to do with people who got tattooed for idolatrous reasons than for style reasons, though.

I don’t know if it’s wrong or not. I just don’t think it’s smart (I hear you squealing in front of your computer screen. Hang On.). Humans are remarkably changeable creatures. Tattoos are the rage today. Tomorrow there will be a lot of regret.

Someone noted that one day there will be a lot of grandmas who had a tattoo on their neck, who will have the same tattoo on their stomach forty years later. And that slightly inebriated young man that had a heart with “Mabel” tattooed on his stomach will pay for it for a long time when he ends up marrying Sally.

Most ladies can’t go ten years without rearranging the furniture. It’ll be hard to look at the tattoo of the bird of paradise on your arm for the rest of your life.

Me? I just don’t want to be a human display board. My prediction is that one of the real growth industries in the near future will be services that remove tattoos. Ouch!

Now, that I’ve made my tattoo-wearing friends thoroughly mad (because I really consider you Coffee Stainers as my friends), let me add this:

God has a tattoo.

(Now, all the non-tattoo wearing friends are mad at me. I’m really in form today!)

No, I can only tell you what the Word of God says, Isa 49:16  “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands …”

If you’ve got a tattoo on the back of your head, you don’t think of it often, unless someone says something. Even a tattoo on your forehead doesn’t come to your attention too often. But, a tattoo on your hands? You see it all the time.

And there it is, God’s tattoo. “I love David.” Lest you think I’m the only one, don’t worry. You’re there, too, if you love the Lord. “I love Tahyna,” “I love Christi,” “I love Paula.” He’s got all these people and millions and millions more, engraved on His hands.

God’s got BIG hands you see.

So, to you my discouraged friend who thinks God has lost his address, I say, “Cheer up!” He can’t forget you. You’re written on His hand just as if you’re an only child. When the time comes, so will the Lord’s deliverance.  Don’t give up hope; just keep trusting and praying.

He couldn’t forget you if He wanted to.

“But Zion said, “I don’t get it. God has left me. My Master has forgotten I even exist. Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I’d never forget you—never. Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands.” (Isa. 49:14-18, The Message)
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Hmmm …
I recently heard John Eldredge make the point that it’s easy to be brave when you are sitting in the safety of your own office. You can hurl digital spears at your adversaries without without the risk of a real, live encounter. But confronting people face-to-face—or even over the telephone—is a different matter. That takes real guts. But it can also lead to real solutions. The real question is whether we want to merely make a point or solve the problem.  http://michaelhyatt.com