5 Days of Heartwork: What's In Your Hands?Sample

Letting Go: Becoming Hands-Free

Heart //

We all pride ourselves in being “hands-free.” Headphones have gone from wires to earbuds. Cell phones can be wristwatches. Our introductions have gone from handshakes to follower requests on Instagram and friend requests on Facebook. When we pick up a phone to call (if ever), we try to be on speakerphone – so that our hands are free to keep “doing.” Why do one thing, when we can do three things at once? But even when we go on speakerphone, and “free” our hands, we immediately fill them with something else. 

It’s funny how this happens... In our wireless, hyper-consumer society, we think that we can have it all – fill all of our time and space with more, and more, and more – and still be free to serve God and others. But guess what folks?! Our resources are not unlimited. If we only free our hands to take on more, we are not really free at all. The truth is that our insatiable appetites to fill ourselves up can lead to emptiness, sin, and bondage. Think about how well you would function if you ate only Skittles, Snickers, and Doritos everyday. Even if you filled your stomach with these delicious treats for breakfast, your stomach would be growling for more before lunch came around! Each meal, you’d have to eat more and more junk food to feel full, and even then, your body would begin to shudder and shake at the loss of grains and proteins, vegetables and fruit. 

Even amidst our constant consumption of entertainment, gossip, technology, and activity, we feel empty when it all has no grander purpose outside of ourselves, much like our stomachs would feel on an all-junk diet. Our hands are definitely not free if they are used only to fill our endless appetites for more.  

Our Lord wants our hands to be free – yes, so that we can be watchful and attentive to his ways, a people ready and waiting to spend ourselves at a moment’s notice. When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, he said to them, “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt” (Luke 9:3). The good news was not to be bogged down by the cares and burdens of this world! And ultimately, serving him is this: a personal invitation to be like him. 

Thankfully God saw our misuse of the hands he gave us, so he sent his son to show us proper use. Jesus’ hands were free as they were nailed to the cross; he didn’t grasp for a crown, a princely robe, a weapon, or even a friend. Rather, Jesus spent himself for us. In order for Jesus to lay down his life, his hands had to be free. In order for us to do the same, we must take up the call of Hebrews 12 to lay aside everything that hinders us. 

// Work

Yesterday you made a list of the things you’re spending yourself on. Some of it is probably great! But the question remains - is it too much in your hands? How much of it is being spent on you, with no awareness of the needs of others? Something that tends to take up so much of our time and energy is pure consumption - of media, or maybe shopping or browsing things you wish you could get. Think of how much energy you spend checking your phone, seeing tidbits of others lives but not truly connecting with them. Maybe it’s watching shows or playing video games or browsing products, in real life or online. Your challenge today is to estimate the time you spend on these self-filling activities. Write it down. Can you see how perhaps these things may be hindering you from nourishing yourself with healthier options? Then make a list of the "self-emptying" things you could do to serve others (family or community) with that same amount of time (or even a portion of it!) each week.