Mark of His Love

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.”  

―James 1:17, NIV

We sometimes have the erroneous notion that if everything appears well on the exterior everything is okay. At our daughter’s delivery, I equated her ten fingers and ten toes with perfection. Caught up with her external appearance, I gave little thought to the possibility that something was wrong on the inside.

My obstetrician immediately suspected Down syndrome because of some of our daughter’s distinct facial features: almond-shaped eyes, a small head with a flatter profile, a thicker neck, a somewhat flat nose, a smaller mouth and ears, and a thicker tongue. None of these features is abnormal in itself, but when a doctor sees a number of these features combined, Down syndrome is suspected. Because of these and other distinguishing physical features, people with Down syndrome will resemble one another as well as bear a resemblance to their family members. My doctor was convinced of his suspicions when he looked into the palms our daughter’s hands and saw the simian line.

In the average hand, three lines intersect the palm―the head, heart, and life lines. A simian line fuses the top two lines (the head and heart) into a single, deep line that crosses the palm horizontally. This line is present in approximately 3 percent of the general population and appears in about one-half of individuals with Down syndrome. (It can also show up in the palms of a person who is gifted mentally even to the point of genius.)

Further chromosomal testing supported the doctor’s conclusions. Intricately woven into every cell of our daughter’s body was an extra copy of the twenty-first chromosome―the distinctive marker of Down syndrome. Our daughter may appear flawed to some, and she may fall short of humanity’s expectations, but in the eyes of her Creator she is perfect and ideal for the role she was destined to play in our lives.

As believers, we too carry a distinctive mark―the seal of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s indwelling presence in our lives signifies that we belong to the family of God and are joint heirs with His Son, Jesus. When we grow together in Christ as His children and assume His nature, we begin to resemble one another in character and deeds. After a while, others come to know us as members of God’s family because we resemble our Father.

If we could look into the hands of Christ, we would see within His palms distinctive marks―marks of His love for us: His nail scars. Regardless of our genetic make-up, Christ considered us worth dying for. Now, as believers forever marked by His love, we each have that extra something that makes us perfect, inside and out. Pretty special, huh?

Now it's your turn to "get down." Do you bear the mark of God's love? Reach out and make Christ visible today by giving someone a hand up.

I welcome your comments.

Keep your sunny side up!
Starr

Day 3 of a five-day series which first appeared at www.zookeepersministries.com