Vines growing from my potted plants communicated what I already knew: we were made for touch. Ivy crept from its pot to the purple heart growing beside it, and in return, the purple heart reached out of its container to wind around the ivy. They refused to be confined to their pots as nature displayed an instinctiveness for connection. When you think about it, this message is everywhere. It’s in the dog presenting its belly for a rub, the kitten winding between its owner’s ankles, and the infant cooing when it’s picked up from its crib.
Never has the need for touch been so apparent to me than during this pandemic with social distancing and limited human interaction. A hugger by nature, my arms have ached to reach out of my space and into someone else’s. Squeezes, for me, are a love language akin to the elixir of the gods. But these kinds of touches, as satisfying and necessary as they may be, have minimal depth. Like a good scratching, they only brush the surface. Their temporary tingles delight our nerve endings and sooth our psyche but do little for the part of us connected to our eternal well-being.
The Old Testament used natural touch to illustrate the spiritual principle that the New Testament would unfold more clearly. According to the Law, whatever was touched had the potential to make a person unclean. Jesus, however, showed something new. There was a touch that could bring wholeness. His touch. He could touch the leper, the infected, the diseased, and they were changed. He wasn’t contaminated by their uncleanness; they were, instead, cleansed by His perfection. But this, too, was partial revelation. His touch goes deeper still, to cleanse the place where our hidden corruption dwells. The hand of God reaches through the tangible to caress our hearts with His Spirit, and His transforming touch washes us and makes us us completely whole.
Ephesians 3:14-19 says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
Just like the plants in my flower pots, we were made for a connection that we have the power to receive if we will but reach out.
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call,” Acts 2: 38-39.
Spiritual communion is available to whoever is willing to stretch out of their comfort zone and seek something more. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely," Revelation 22:17.
Jesus invites all, even the most socially distant, to receive His eternal touch in their hearts through the indwelling of His Spirit, and He welcomes everyone into His family, where there are always open arms and connections to be made.
Never has the need for touch been so apparent to me than during this pandemic with social distancing and limited human interaction. A hugger by nature, my arms have ached to reach out of my space and into someone else’s. Squeezes, for me, are a love language akin to the elixir of the gods. But these kinds of touches, as satisfying and necessary as they may be, have minimal depth. Like a good scratching, they only brush the surface. Their temporary tingles delight our nerve endings and sooth our psyche but do little for the part of us connected to our eternal well-being.
The Old Testament used natural touch to illustrate the spiritual principle that the New Testament would unfold more clearly. According to the Law, whatever was touched had the potential to make a person unclean. Jesus, however, showed something new. There was a touch that could bring wholeness. His touch. He could touch the leper, the infected, the diseased, and they were changed. He wasn’t contaminated by their uncleanness; they were, instead, cleansed by His perfection. But this, too, was partial revelation. His touch goes deeper still, to cleanse the place where our hidden corruption dwells. The hand of God reaches through the tangible to caress our hearts with His Spirit, and His transforming touch washes us and makes us us completely whole.
Ephesians 3:14-19 says, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
Just like the plants in my flower pots, we were made for a connection that we have the power to receive if we will but reach out.
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call,” Acts 2: 38-39.
Spiritual communion is available to whoever is willing to stretch out of their comfort zone and seek something more. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely," Revelation 22:17.
Jesus invites all, even the most socially distant, to receive His eternal touch in their hearts through the indwelling of His Spirit, and He welcomes everyone into His family, where there are always open arms and connections to be made.
Tip/Tidbit: You are connecting with something. Is it a connection that satisfies your soul? Make today the day for a divine embrace. It's the best touch you can experience.
RSS Feed
