"Double Dust Jacket" Grace
Scripture Reading — John 10:22-30
“No one will snatch them out of my hand… No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”
John 10:28-29
Thousands of hardcover books have passed through my hands, most of them with a dust jacket. Typically I remove the dust jacket while reading the book. I must be more interested in preserving the dust jacket than in protecting the book!
Recently I discovered a first—two identical dust jackets on the same book. I wondered if this made the book a rare collector’s item!
Jesus shows us that we, his sheep, have double protection—the hand of our crucified Savior and the hand of our creator Father. Like double dust jackets, those hands preserve and protect us. And neither we nor anyone else can pry them off.
The double-jacketed book was an anthology of short stories. Sometimes the stories of our lives are like the stories in a book like that: we may not like or understand some of the stories, and we may like other stories so much that we think they are too short. Many of our life stories have already slipped from our minds. That’s fine. The important ones will carry on in our spirits and our behavior.
We can be content to let the Author of our life’s stories be the anthologist—the One who fits them all together. And we know our whole being is infinitely safe and secure in the protection of the Father and the Son.
God of abounding grace, we thank you today for your hands of grace that preserve and protect us. Through Jesus Christ, Amen.
About the author — Dale Vander Veen
Dale Vander Veen is a retired Christian Reformed pastor who with his wife, Edith, has ministered in California, Washington, and Michigan. They have three married children and six grandchildren. He currently writes a daily e-mail series of devotions.
Start your day with quick daily devotions.
See God's love, power, presence, and purpose in your life every day!