Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God. (Psalm 31:5, NIV)

When I was a kid, silver dollars were a big deal. They were large, shiny coins that were cool to look at—and they were money! I always wanted one and my eighty-year-old great-granddad knew this, so at family gatherings he would teasingly play a game with me. He would show me a brand new silver dollar, then grip the coin in his fist and say, “You can have it if you can get it out of my hand.” Easy-peasy, all I had to do was open up his hand and the silver dollar was mine.

I would then spend the next ten minutes trying to tug, pull, pound, twist and pry my great-granddad’s fingers apart and hand open. But it was to no avail. I would sweat, strain and struggle, and all the while my great-granddad would watch with a delighted grin on his face. I could not get that coin out of his gnarled fist. It was like iron! His strength was amazing.

He would finally say, “Ya give?” and I would eventually relent and accept defeat. And then to my surprise and delight my great-granddad would open up his hand and give me the silver dollar. It was mine!

“Into your hands I commit my spirit.”

King David wrote those words when he was in a tight spot and needed God’s help, and a thousand years later Jesus quoted them on the cross just before leaving his earthly body and going to the Lord.

Jesus died upon the cross so that we might live. We are his treasure (his “silver dollar”) and when Jesus committed his life into the strong and mighty hands of God, He took us with Him—holding us tightly in His nail-pierced hands.

Nothing in all creation is greater than the loving hand of Jesus. He delights in you, holds you in His iron fist and says, “You are mine!”

Commit your life to Him. He will not let you go.