Hands of Christ

"But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrorsthat brightly reflect the glory of the Lord" - (2 Corinthians 3:18,NIV).

Following World War II some German students volunteered to helprebuild a cathedral in England, one that had been badly damaged bythe Luftwaffe bombings. As the work progressed, they weren't sure howto best restore a large statue of Jesus with his arms outstretchedand bearing the familiar inscription, "Come unto me."

They were able to repair all the damage to the statue except forChrist's hands which had been completely destroyed. Should they evenattempt to rebuild these?

The workers reached a decision that still stands today. They decidedto leave the hands off and changed the inscription to read: "Christhas no hands but ours."

While Jesus Christ paid the price and purchased our salvation on thecross with his life, he left the "hands-on" work of building hiskingdom in your hands and mine. We are his representatives and formany, the only Christ they will ever see is "the Christ" living inyou and me. A poster on the office wall at Wheaton College says itall:

The living truth is what I long to see,
I cannot live on what used to be,
So close your Bible and show me how
The Christ you talk about is living now.

Prayer: "Almighty and Merciful Father, please use 'my hands' and helpme to be as Christ, first to my loved ones, and to whomever you bringinto my life today. Grant that they, seeing Jesus in me, will wantyou in their life too. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer.Gratefully, In Jesus loving Name I Pray, Amen."