What scars do you have? Like most guys, I get a kick out of sharing scars and then trading stories. It’s been a guy tradition for as long as I can remember. So when I read a blog, Why Gravy Reminds This Southern Girl of Jesus’ Scars, referenced by a friend’s facebook posting I could really relate. Who doesn’t like gravy made by a Southern Girl that knows how to cook and a conversation about scars?

Reading the blog made me remember a similar scar in my own life. This particular scar I obtained on a mission trip in 2013 to Tecate, Mexico. I was handling lumber for our build project and a large splinter poked my wrist and left a wound. It was really just a deep scratch.

At the time, God was weighing heavy on my heart about the condition of my life. I’d placed everything but him in the place he was supposed to be. This included my career, lust for life, pleasure, family, and home. Everything was ahead of God.

One of the messages I took to heart that week was based on Romans 12 where it says that we should make our bodies living sacrifices because this is a spiritual act of worship. Worshiping God is not just going to church and singing songs. Worship is something we do every day in everything we do. It permeates every facet of our lives and every conscience decision we make. The question is, what or who are we worshiping?

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. — Romans 12:1

My scratch healed in only a few weeks. I looked at it often as a reminder and remembered it long after it was gone. To me it was a symbol that I was finally taking up my cross and following Jesus. I had even prayed a few times that God would make it a permanent reminder of that time and the decisions I made.

But it healed and today there is no evidence that it was ever there. Many times I wondered why God didn’t leave a permanent scar so I asked him the question. What he revealed to me is that while we are to take up our cross and follow Jesus, only he can wear the scares of our sin and bear our punishment. It was his place to forgive us. It was not our place to earn it or pay for it. Doing so means a certain death because none of us are able.

Instead, our scars are laid on him.  Only he is worthy to wear them.

Will you let him?