Friday, February 18, 2011

February 18 Marked for Holiness

Leviticus 19:28 Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.

Hmmm, I grew up admiring the tattoos on my father's forearms; though I cannot tell you now what it looked like - something with a heart on it on one arm and a navy emblem on the other think. It was normal to me. He was a World War II vet, married during his years of service, and I think for so many of that generation, the tattoo was a way of carrying love letters everywhere.

My father-in-law had a discreet tattoo and my big brother did, all carry-overs from their military years. My son joined the tradition during his military years - though by that time, the theme of tattoos had changed.

Today, you see tattoos running down the shoulders and even on to the hands of young men. More and more people of both genders sport tattoos all over their bodies. A fad perhaps, and certainly none of them would say their tattoos have anything to do with "ownership" by a false God. But I wonder.

Why would someone so value an image that he would mark his or her beautiful skin forever with that image? I wonder if these people even think about their future - what the tattoo might look like or say to those who would see it in the years to come. I am NOT saying that tattoos are evil here, or that a discreet tattoo on someone's ring finger or shoulder is evil, but I do wonder about what is going on in those who have carpeted their bodies with colored ink.

Smith says this: "God has set his own mark on us in a different kind of way-also for life and for all to see. As Christ's disciples we bear his indelible imprint, displaying love, devotion and loyalty as surely as any tattoo..." This makes me wonder whether we who profess to be Christ's disciples walk around showing off this mark or whether we keep it concealed by the long sleeves of competing values, of worldly distractions, of busyness?..Well, I think you know what I mean.

Do we blend in? Do I blend in with my unsaved neighbors, or does the mark of God in my life speak of love and concern, of caring for someone other than myself. Pure religion and undefiled is to love the fatherless and widows. Love your neighbor as yourself - God's desire, God's mark on our lives is a display of this kind of love.

This kind of tattoo speaks truth and love into the world. It attracts rather than repels. It generates peace rather than fear. All of this makes me wonder if I am truly tattoo free, whether I have the right kind of marks in my life, or whether there are other marks in my life that do not speak of a relationship with a loving and merciful God.

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