Touching

by HJS

Long ago Isaiah wrote, "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear" (Isaiah 59:1). When someone reaches out with his hand to touch you, how do you respond? Do you pull back or respond to the warmth of a person's hand? How you answer that question reveals a lot about your culture, but more than that, about you as a person.

It reveals your security or insecurity. How so? Well, for starters, individuals who are paranoid don't want to touch or be touched. I remember once staying in the home of a pastor whose wife had a phobia of germs. She would not shake hands with anyone. How different is the reaction of two young people in love whose hands seem to be joined in a perpetual clasp.

Michelangelo's image of God's hand reaching for man is comforting - to know that it was He who initiated the search, sending his Son to touch our lives, to bring us back into harmony with His plan and purpose. A study of those whom Jesus touched reveals He freely touched the rejects of society, and there was no thought of being defiled by reaching out and touching someone. He was secure; He knew who He was.

There is healing in a touch, so said the renowned author and psychiatrist Dr. Karl Menninger. So let God touch your life, and with His touch will come emotional and spiritual healing, and the freedom that lets you reach out and touch someone else. "Reach out and touch someone" was the advertising slogan of a phone company. That's what you do when God first touches you.

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him.   LUKE 5:13