By Ding Guevarra on April 22nd, 2008
It’s a lot of fun to know a set of sign language. I just learned how to demonstrate the letters of the Alphabet through different finger formations.I wonder how it feels when I can actually use them in “conversing” with deaf people ? I’m excited about the possibility.
How would I communicate “God Love’s You” through signs that they may know Jesus. Should I point to heaven upward, then to my heart and then “draw” a cross on the air and then point at them? My hand movements may probably puzzled or confused them ! For those who have the knowledge, this problem is nothing.
Sign Language users easily read every facial expressions accompanied by hand movements.They stand for letters, words,phrases that form sentences, thus, sending and receiving messages. What a wonderful way of communicating one’s thoughts and feelings!
It occurred to me that in the world of faith, we do have signs or gestures conveying messages . If I see a CROSS, I know the message it conveys. If I see an EMPTY CROSS, I know it’s powerful meaning too. We exactly know the gestures of those who are in prayer, worship and meditations . We have signs of our own that connect us with one another. What a wonderful language!
Getting closer still, the miracles of Jesus Christ were called “signs’ in the Gospel of John … a kind of read (meaning) that affirms His Messiaship, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, who will take away the sins of the world. Those people around Him, especialy those who are in the know , can read signs but for some reasons, wrongly interpret the crucial ones, those of Christ’s works! Jesus Christ said “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be foul weather,for the sky is read’; “and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today,for the sky is red and threatening ‘. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of times. (Matt 16:2-3) We wonder, how could those healings and feeding by the thousands, and preaching about the kingdom could be read otherwise? Despite its implications, about Jesus ,the promised Messiah, they were not good signs readers.The obvious, wasn’t obvious at all .
What about the scarlet cord? That’s a good read.It’s one fascinating a story of conquest and preservation. Rahab,a harlot who lived in Jericho, hid the spies whom Joshua sent to spy out the land of Jericho. The spies made a promise of sparing the lives of Rahab and those who will stay with her at her home. The sparing of their lives will rest upon the sign she will put up during the siege..the scarlet cord (rope) knotted in the window through which the spies slid down. If Rahab would remove it, they have no way of identifying and preserving her and so the promise made, non binding. When finally Joshua and Israelites came, Rahab was spared and those who were with her , the scarlet cord providing the identify of where and who they were.The scarlet cord became the “sign”, Joshua and Israelites has to see, to spare Rahab and those with her.
Unusual ? I have another read. Rahab was a harlot ! A picture of worst of sinners. Yet she said “…for the Lord your God,He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord…spare my father,my mother,my brothers,my sisters, and all that they have,and deliver our lives from death” (Josh 2:11-13). She believes the Lord and her faith was honored. That’s an eye-opener, the worst of us can come to God by faith and God will be gracious to us. What a great God we have!
Whoever you may be today, be it good or bad, or wicked, no matter how you look at yourself, be sure to read the sign properly. God loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus , who shed HIs BLOOD on the cross for you. The moment you see the cross today,stop and think through. That’s a SCARLET letter for you. The language of God ,saying I LOVE YOU…COME TO ME THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE HEAVILY LADIN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST…REST FOR YOUR SOULS…
Now, if I can only communicate those thoughts through my hands…
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