a few branches, a needle, and some ink

well folks, I got a new tattoo. I know a few of you are reading this and probably want to throw your phone across the room, or may have already decided to remove me from your will. I get it, I do. But I want to share with your what I got, as well as what the Lord has been teaching me through this picture. 

There she is, in all her newness and glory. But what is it? Why is it so significant that you want it to be on the back of your arm forever? Are you just another white girl with a flower tattoo? Well, I’m glad you asked.

This tattoo has three parts. First theres the hyssop branch which points to the left, then the olive branch pointed to the right, and the bow in the center to tie the two together. To help you understand the tattoo as a whole, I have to explain each element. 

First, the hyssop branch. The hyssop branch plays a huge role in Old Testament sacrifices. It is used when cleaning a leper, or when someone has touched a dead body, or in just a guilt offering. Overall, in the Old Testament the branch is used as a means to transfer blood of the sacrifice to the sinner. When the priest would kill the appropriate animal for that particular sacrifice, they would use the hyssop branch to sprinkle the blood of the slaughtered animal either on the guilty party, or on another animal. Either way, the hyssop was used in the old testament to transfer blood, which symbolically transferred  sins. It reminded the people of Israel that our sins come at a price-one that we are unable to pay on our own. It is only by the blood of the lamb that we are made clean. 

The hyssop branch makes an appearance in the New Testament as well. In John 19, as He is hanging on the cross, Jesus asks says “I thirst.” It is then that the guards standing around prepare Jesus sour wine, dip the hyssop branch in the liquid, and then extend it towards the crucified Savior. Theologians believe that the sour wine symbolized the wrath of God, and that by drinking it, Jesus took the wrath of the Father upon Himself. As if we were still in Leviticus, the hyssop branch is still being used as the object to transfer sins. Its still reminding us that no matter how “good” we are, we aren’t able to justify our wrongs. All sin, regardless of the degree, comes at a price. And He paid it for me. He willingly hung on that cross for me, He willingly sipped of the wrath of the Father for me. That cup was meant for me. The sins I have committed and will commit in the future were blended together and made the most sour of wines and the Holy Spotless Lamb drank it for me. And then He did something incredible-He called me clean. He took on the weight of my shortcoming and then rewarded me with my purity. I can’t fathom it. 

So overall, in the terms of my tattoo, the hyssop branch reminds me that my sins have been atoned for. That regardless of how unworthy I often see myself, my Savior willingly took my punishment upon Himself.

Next is the olive branch. As much as I want to say that I got the olive branch because of my deep love for Olive Garden, I won’t cheat the purifying love of the Father like that. From what I have gathered, oil in the old testament was used to do two things- to clean and to anoint. Like the hyssop branch, oil, which many believe to be olive oil, was used during sacrifices. It was often poured over the person at the end of the sacrifice to symbolize that the sin they walked in with had left and that a clean heart took its place. So in a way, the olive branch in my tattoo reminds me that I am clean. 

Like I said, from what I’ve gathered, there was two uses of oil in the Old Testament. The other use was to anoint a priest or a king. Oil was used to consecrate he (or she! Cmon ladies!) who was preparing to serve the Lord through an occupation. While I don’t know what my occupation will be, I do know that as a daughter of the Lord, I am called to serve Him with all I have. I may not be a king, but He says I am royalty. And because I am royalty, and because the Father sees Jesus when He looks at me, I am anointed. Anointed in His love, and filled with His Holy Spirit. 

Finally, the third element of my new tattoo is the bow. When I asked my friend Julia to draw this tattoo (which she did an INCREDIBLE job at) I just told her to tie the two branches together with a bow. I honestly didn’t care much about the bow-it didn’t have any significance to me in comparison to the other two elements. However, in the last month in Thailand it has grown to mean something to me. I have recently been battling who I am and who I want to be. I see parts of my personality shifting, and I see my desires changing. And for a while it really freaked me out. Anxiously I wondered if those around me would still love me if I changed in this way, and I just felt…different. But then one night the Lord reminded me of His promise to me in 2 Corinthians 5:17-if I am in Christ, then I will be made new. He’s making me new. Each day He is stripping off the parts of me that aren’t of Him and replacing it with pieces of Himself. Metamorphosis in a butterfly isn’t a cute and painless process as all the children’s books portray it be, and I’ve learned that the renewing of my mind isn’t either. But i can stand refreshed by the fact that He is keeping His promise to me-He is, in fact, at work and making me new. And like a new born baby, or a gift on Christmas, the best things that are new come wrapped in a bow. 

So overall, my tattoo stands as a reminder for me of four simple truths: my sins have been paid for, I am clean and I am anointed, and I am made new. And I know that the Lord knows that, but if I had a dollar for all the times I forgot those truths, I could fund every single one of us to get this tattoo. So as a permanent reminder to my human heart which is so often filled with doubt, this is who I am. And good news folks, the truths that I have declared as true for myself today in this blog are also true for you. If you are in Christ Jesus, your sins have been atoned for. If you walk a life of surrender with the Father, you are clean. If you can say in confidence (or not in confidence, in our weakness He is strong) that you are a child of the King, then you are anointed. And if your life is His and not your own, then you are being made new. 

thanks for sticking with me through this lengthy explanation! until next time, i pray that you walk in confidence that these truths are just as true in your life as they are in mine. I love you all! 

-j