It was the chunky anklet that first caught my eye.  “Such heavy, cumbersome, angry accessories this generation favors!”  I thought to myself as I watched the next passenger in line at the check in counter.  I already had my boarding pass and now I was waiting for my luggage to go through the screening apparatus so I could go on to my gate.

Curiosity won over discretion as I took another look at this young woman and the two attentive gentlemen on either side of her.  This second glance revealed that the heavy metal bracelets were also on her wrists and they were certainly not the chunky jewelry she would no doubt have preferred.

She was nicely dressed, probably not yet twenty ~ but as she moved away from the check in counter, her restricted shuffle was that of an eighty or ninety year old. I silently prayed that her incarceration would not last until then.  And I prayed for her heart ~ as well as for my own.

Aside from the fact that you don’t normally see prisoners being escorted amongst tourists, there was something else that held my eye.  It was the behavior of the two gentlemen ~ the Federal Agents who were accompanying the young woman.

I call them gentlemen because indeed they seemed to me to be just that.  I watched how respectfully they spoke to her and to each other, calmly ignoring her abusive language.  I was sure they could sense her jumbled inner feelings of resentment, anger, maybe remorse…certainly shame and humiliation.

Two passages from God’s Word came to the forefront of my mind as I prayed quietly for this girl, for her escorts and for myself.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

Paul wrote this to the church at Ephesus and to us in Ephesians 5:1.  In chapter 6 verses 1 and 2, he wrote:

“Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.  Bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”

Paul closes his letter with these powerful words:

“And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.  From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.”   Galatians 6: 16-18.  (NASB)

What should be the brand marks of Jesus in our lives?  I noticed them in the behavior of the federal agents and they are also outlined for us in God’s Word. Could it be that if those brand marks had been clearly seen in the lives of those with whom this young woman interacted that she might have avoided the tragic circumstances she was in today?

I have these verses as my theme verses or ‘brand marks of Jesus’ for 2007, and I put them on my refrigerator door where I can often be reminded of them:

“ I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Ephesians 4: 1-3.

We should also remember that the most deeply embedded brand marks are the ones which Jesus suffered for us in order to set us free:

“See I have carved you in the palms of my hands!”  Isaiah 49:16

Gratefully linked with Jesus in the bonds of love,

Carol Kauffman