A Warm Embrace

“And He took them [the children up one by one] in His arms…” Mark 10:16

When I conjure up images of. hugs, I include this image I see in my minds eye, the picture that hung in my son’s room for years. It is one of the famous pictures of Jesus hugging a little child. I also picture scenes I have seen of returning soldiers at airports hugging their families. I imagine the hug the father gave to the returning son in the story of the prodigal son. Or of the hug given Lazarus as Lazarus is being held in the bosom of Abraham in another story in the Holy Bible.

I remember the hugs my own children and grandchildren have given me. Young people certainly know how to hug! I can picture hugs I have read about in books. In the novel, The Shack, Mack receives an all love and joy hug from Papa, an African woman. I remember the images of an all-encompassing embrace of love.

What love surrounds a person when they are given a warm embrace! When you hug someone both you and the recipient feel the love. An unexpected hug can be a surprise and an extremely warming to the heart.