That’s How He Hurt His Hands
There is a great song by the group Nickel Creek that tells a wonderful but sad story. The
song opens with a young boy bringing his mother a gift: Her very own roses grown in her
garden. What she immediately notices is that in his desire to give to her, he has been
wounded by the thorns that buried themselves into his hands. The chorus states:
But she knew it was love
It was one she could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands.
Children have a loving spirit and desire to give gifts to show that love. They usually
aren’t expensive and as was the case with the roses, sometimes cost the receiver more
than the gift is worth monetarily. However, when it comes to the gift a child gives it really is
the thought that counts. Those flowers or weeds or rocks or drawings or even creepy-
crawly creatures are believed to be a wonderful tribute to the person they so loved. The
children are showing their love...and often, it comes with a price.
The same boy is later sitting on mom’s lap and as she reads the Bible he notices that the
picture of Jesus shows a man with pierced hands and he points out that the man on the
cross has scars on his hands. That man had looked down on a world that needed a Savior
and he delivered it. As for the little boy seeing the picture:
But he knew it was love
It was one he could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands.
That love Jesus had for us should compel us to show it to others. The young boy grows
to be a young man and ultimately gives his life for a friend as they served in the military
overseas. The sacrificial mindset had not left him and those who saw his sacrifice, well...
They knew it was love
It was one they could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands.
Scripture reminds us that we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Since Christ
gave sacrificially in the way He loved us, will we choose to love in that same way the
people who are around us? Stanley Johnson from Moulton, Alabama once said, “A
sacrifice isn’t a sacrifice until it hurts.” People will know and be inspired when you love
sacrificially.
Ben