Isaiah 49:14-16 "But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me Can a women forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

If you will read the above scripture through a few times you will begin to see the love that God has for his children. He has a picture or a mark on the palm of his hands, which constantly is a reminder to him of you. Your tribulation, your path your wounds are continually before him (or within his view.) He has a wall of protection around you! The Lord will not forget you.

Exodus 21:1-6 "Now these are the judgements which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing (without paying anything). If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the women and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. And if the servant plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever." "The laws in this chapter relate to the fifth and sixth commandments; and though they differ from our times and customs, nor are they binding on us, yet they explain the moral law, and the rules of natural justice. The servant, in the state of servitude, was an emblem of that state of bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, which man is brought into by robbing God of his glory, by the transgression of his precepts. Likewise in being made free, he was an emblem of that liberty wherewith Christ, the Son of God, makes free from bondage his people, who are free indeed; and made so freely, without money and without price, of free grace." (Matthew Henry) This is a symbol of obedience and perpetual servitude. Though this occurred in the Old Testament, God expects no less from the Christian today who claims he knows the Son of God.

As Christians we have been obtained by the purchased price of the Saviors blood and now we belong to God. He is our master and we are his servants. To serve by love by the Holy Spirit. Acts 20:28 "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood."

God has put his mark upon each one who belongs to him. Just as the symbolic boring of the ear in the Old Testament, now the Holy Spirit has sealed the believer in Christ Jesus until the day of redemption. "Ephesians 4:30 "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption." God will preserve the righteous with his mark or seal in order that in the end he will find you holy, unblamable and unreproveable in his sight.

In the Old Testament the king's seal was law. It meant that things were finished and the king would place his seal upon things he did not want disturbed. Esther 8:8 "Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing, which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse." Pilate even set a seal over the tomb of Jesus (Matthew 27:66). A cord was stretched across the stone and an official seal with clay was fastened at each end so it could be detected if the grave was opened.

There are different reasons to seal something. Believers are sealed for security and protection (Revelation 20:3). We are sealed to hide the contents within (Deuteronomy 32:34). Each Christian person is a walking testimony to the power of God by Christ through the Spirit. We are full of God's treasure. No one can take this from us because we are sealed. The disciple of Christ is sealed to confirm or approve by testimony. John 3:33 "He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true." (Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true.) God seals the believer for ownership. 2 Corinthians 1:22 "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." This is God's pledge to us that our sin debt is paid in advance and in full. We are debt free! There was an exchange made on the day of Christ's crucifixion. His life was given for ours and our sin was substituted for his righteousness.

This ownership begins when a person repents and accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord. Romans 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, is so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

If you are born again by the Spirit of truth then you are a walking testimony and witness of God because you now belong solely to God. Many say they know and believe but few follow. You are important to God because you cost him a great deal. He gave his Son for you that you might one day be with him.

In Christ Jesus,

Dale Thompson