It's Personal!
- Aug 31, 2016
- 4 min read
We personalize our smartphones with backgrounds and cases specifically for us; we personalize our clothing with our first names, last names, nick names; we personalize our cars with those vanity plates that have our names embossed in so many characters; we personalize our offices or desks at work with those little wooden blocks with a shiny sheet of brass that has our names engraved along with our title; we even sit patiently and allow someone to poke us thousands of times with an electric needle filled with colorful ink to permanently etch our names in our flesh (I’m not tattoo prude, I have 7 myself).
We embroider, stamp, iron-on, engrave, tattoo, (write on with Sharpies)...you name it, we do it to personal items, things, objects, ourselves! We mark almost everything in our lives with our names, our style, our signature, our unique special touch. As humans, we crave uniqueness; we love being “the only one”. We love exclusivity; we love the VIP status. When we personalize things in our lives, we make it our own; it belongs to us. It was made specifically for us. The mold was broken and can’t be used for or even by anyone else. No one else has what we have because we’ve made it our own. We’ve “branded” it, so to speak.
I remember my mom used to write my name with a magic marker (that’s what they were called back in the day, not “Sharpie”) inside my white balloon gym suit, inside my metal Holly Hobbie lunch box, on my terry-cloth beach towel that I took a nap on in Kindergarten class; she even wrote my name and telephone number on a piece of masking tape and taped it to the hem of my dress in case I was ever lost, I could phone home...nowadays kids got their own cell phone.
And when I became a mom, I designed and printed labels (that was the digital era) to place on my daughter’s school supplies or inside my daughter’s plastic Sailor Moon lunch box or on her Rugrats backpack. Okay, time to bail out of this time machine.
Now, there’s a different way of bible study, which involves “personalizing” your reading of the bible. What you do is read verses from the bible and where there is a pronoun, you replace it with your own name. So, for example, you may have Psalms 23:1 read like this:
The Lord is Tracy’s shepherd; Tracy shall lack nothing. He makes Tracy lie down in green pastures. He leads Tracy beside the still waters. He restores Tracy’s soul.
Did you know that’s exactly how God wrote it in His heart? The Lord is Tracy’s Shepherd AND the Lord is Karen’s Shepherd AND the Lord is Gwen’s Shepherd. Our Father wrote His one and only book with us...AS INDIVIDUALS...in mind.
Our Father is a personal God. Even though He loves us all equally, He loves each of us specifically. His love is personalized and tailored just for each one of us. How He personalizes His love for me doesn’t look like the same love He has for Pat...or Sonya, but His love is equal. Why do you think He desires a personal relationship with us? Why do you think its so important to spend “alone time” with God? He’s a personal God, who desires a personal relationship with Janice. With Teresa. With Kelly. With Brenda.
With each whip of the scourge that ripped flesh from His body, He personalized His sacrifice by calling YOUR name. “I’m doing this for Stephanie because I love Stephanie.”
When they pressed that crown of thorns into his skull, He personalized it and called YOUR name. “I will endure this pain for Joanne because Joanne is mine.”
When they pulled his arm out of its socket to make it stretch across to fit that cross, He personalized it and called YOUR name. “Because Cynthia’s name is engraved in MY hand, I will endure this inhumanity.”
When that hammer hit the top of that rusted nail, driving itself deep into the top of His bare feet, He personalized it and called YOUR name. “I will suffer this pain for Maria because Maria is precious to me.”
I encourage us all to start re-reading His book as He intended...PERSONALLY. Add your name to each sentence just like He did when He wrote it. Just like He did when He inspired those writers of His word.
It’s clearly stated that He created the Word with YOU and YOU only in mind:
“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. “
~Isaiah 49:16
You! Not us...not them...not we...YOU! You are an individual, unique and special, crafted by the Master Craftsman. He doesn’t create replicas...even twins, triplets, quads have unique qualities. He didn’t create clones in a mass-production factory. He handcrafted each and every one of us in a loving “personalized” fashion.
We should worship Him in a “personalized” way.
We should praise Him in a “personalized” way.
We should serve Him in a “personalized” way.
Most of all we should LOVE HIM in a “personalized” way!
His Word is not for Him; it’s for YOU...Jackie, Janet, Maya, Lisa, Suzanne...Amen?
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