Earmarked for Him

He has put his brand upon us—his mark of ownership—and given us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as guarantee that we belong to him, and as the first installment of all that he is going to give us.

—2 Corinthians 1:22 TLB

I was planting a begonia in the container at the end of my lane when my cousin, Shorty, stopped his truck in front of me. Leaning out the window, he tried to persuade me to do some yard work at his house, just up the hill from mine, next to the barnyard.

“This is about all I can handle. Too hot out here for me!” I returned.

“Well, we got started early this morning to beat the heat—marked 38 calves—and then fixed the boys.”

Earmarking and castrating are breeding management procedures. Here on the farm, the females are earmarked with yellow tags, while the males are identified with green. A select few of the males, who meet certain criteria, are chosen to breed. All others are castrated and raised for beef. (For more information on these procedures, check out Agriculture Proud.)

Earmarking is a modern branding technique, alternative to hot branding, used to identify the owner, as well as other information about the animal.

Apostle Paul says that God has put His brand—His mark of ownership—on us. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He gives us His Holy Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee that we belong to Him (2 Corinthians 1:22). His mark identifies us as a Christian, an heir of heaven.

While the term earmarking originated from farmers marking livestock as belonging to them by cutting distinctive notches in the animals' ears, our common use of the term means to designate or to set aside for a particular purpose (The Times of India).

No matter your color or your shortcomings or whether you’re male or female, God has created you for a particular purpose. You have been set aside to do good works in Christ. You have met the criteria through Him.

“We are His work. He has made us to belong to Christ Jesus so we can work for Him. He planned that we should do this” (Ephesians 2:10 NLV).

What work does He have planned for you today?

Dear God, thank You for tagging me as Yours. I look forward to my heavenly home, but until then, I know You have work for me to do. You have planted me here and set me aside for a particular purpose. Show me what I can do to breed more Christians and grow Your kingdom. With Your strength, I know I can handle it (Philippians 4:13). Amen.