My Next Tattoo

Day 73:  Exodus 23, Psalm 73 & 1 Samuel 24

On my right shoulder I have a tattoo of a cross and thorn crown with Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me.  It was my first tattoo in the dining room of a man I got to baptize and a sober free-lance tattoo artist. By the way, this is not a recommendation!

I want a tattoo to mean something.  I want it to be personal.  I want it to relate to something I've been through or aspire to.  I don't always die to myself so that I can live for Christ, but I think about it every time I see my right shoulder or catch a glimpse of the bottom of the cross from underneath my short sleeve.

I'm not here to argue the spiritual ramification or theological implications of tattoos.  If you don't have one, good for you.  I do.  You won't go to hell for my tattoos so I'm pretty sure you're okay.  And since I don't believe I'll go to hell for having them, I'm pretty sure I'm okay too.

I was reading Psalm 73 and it is a prayer that really resonated with me.  Asaph, a prophet of God is telling God about how he had almost fallen into the trap of being envious of sinners.  As he looked around and saw all those who were not following God but had money, full bellies and it appeared did not have a care in the world, he was crushed by his own position.  As he looked in the mirror he saw himself, follower of God who always sought to do good, poor, hungry and worried all the time about these people who didn't seem to care that they were going to hell.

He began to get frustrated with God and almost chucked it all out the window.  But then he came to his senses.  He realized that in the end these people who were living it up now were going to come to a bitter and eternal end.  They may have been fat physically but they were spiritually anorexic.

Asaph then begins to call out to God to help him stand strong in the truth and not be swayed by what he saw with his eyes.  He prayed that he would not fall under the spell of Satan and give up what He knew was of real worth and lasting hope.

In verse 26 he says, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  I love that.  God, I am weak.  I may fall and sin and I may think that I don't have the strength to do what I should, but then I remember that YOU God, are my strength - it's not my heart that leads and guides but it's You IN my heart that causes me to walk in your ways.  And no matter Satan has to offer through this world You will always be my portion, You are all I need.

I think the inside of my right forearm is the perfect place for that nugget of truth that I have struggled with before and will be for me a constant reminder that God is greater and Him in me is all the strength I need.