Fingerprints

I have been reviewing 2020 to look for moments I can be grateful for. The biggest one has been the connections I’ve made with others. I have had more meaningful conversations with people over the phone and through emails than in previous years. Folks are happy to talk and we have shared more in a much deeper manner than ever before.

I’ve also been grateful for the connections my brain makes, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit’s direction. I was watching some CSI:Miami television shows, seeing them gather evidence and analyze it in the lab is cool. The things they can do with fingerprints is pretty neat.

A fingerprint is an impression that is left by the friction ridges of a human finger. Human fingerprints are detailed, nearly unique, difficult to alter, and durable over the life of an individual, which makes them suitable as long-term markers of a person’s identity.

That very evening, as I slept, the new song from We Are Messengers was playing in my head. The lyrics state that we are made in the image of God, and the connection for this post clicked into place.

Currently it is estimated that there are 7.7 billion distinct individuals, each with their own unique fingerprints, living on the planet. Scholars estimate that the people who have lived on this planet before now is between 108 and 113 billion. Those people who have passed on also were distinct individuals with their own unique fingerprints.

And there are more unique individuals being born every day. Since we are made in the image of God, I believe that means that each person has a piece of God’s image in them. All the pieces of us combined equal God’s essence. We also all have the light of Jesus in us. All of our light combined equals the overwhelming glory of God that cannot be seen in our current state.

With the upcoming celebration of Jesus being born as the Savior of the world, the most fascinating thing to me is that by becoming human, He was one of the 113 billion humans that came previously! He took on our flesh and dwelt among us. (See John 1:14) He was described as possessing no distinguishing beauty or outward splendor to catch our attention—nothing special in his appearance to make us desire him. (See Isaiah 53:3) He came to be just like one of us. He too had a unique set of fingerprints. But He was the most unique individual born on Earth. The long-term markers of His personality set Him apart from every other human. Because while He was fully human, at the exact same time He was still fully God!

I hope that fills with with some awe inspiring joy that this season holds. I also want his post to inspire you to live as God made you. Don’t compare yourself to others because you are an unique individual with a purpose that God gave only to you to fulfill.

So start putting your fingerprints on everything you touch. Leave your mark and be the best you that you can be by leaving behind the long-term markers of the personality God bestowed upon you! Give of yourself this season and every day thereafter, you won’t be disappointed!