marked

It stretches my mind this morning to think that we have a God who can protect us with just a mark.

I know what it is to wear a mark. I used to put on a uniform, with a tape above the left pocket that said “U.S. Army.” I still carry a US Government ID card showing I’m retired military. But, as powerful as this country is, we still learned to ditch our ID cards if our plane was ever hijacked. And plenty of uniformed servicemen and women have been bombed, shot and knifed. 

God, with just a single mark, can protect completely, far beyond the ability of any government. He did it when he marked Cain, and he gave Ezekiel a vision of this ultimate protection in Ezekiel 9:3-6 “Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, ‘Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.’ As I listened, he said to the others, ‘Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark.’”

I was thinking what a blessing it would be to have that mark, to be protected not only from the evil in this world but also from God’s judgment on it. Then I realized that I do. It may not be overt enough for other people to see it, but I bet the angels can. I like to think that to the angels the ones Jesus bought blaze like bonfires against the darkness of the world.

If I live right, people will see it too. They’ll see something different about me. That difference will likely draw hostility from some, but even so no one can challenge God’s providence or change my destiny. 

I guess in the end, if I want the world to see the mark of God on me, I have to show them. Why does that sometimes scare me? It’s counter-intuitive: I sometimes lack the courage to claim the protection. 

I’ll wear my country’s flag, my team’s colors, my company’s logo, but in some circumstances I’m uneasy about showing the mark of God on me. Why? Another thing to work on.