Just as footnotes point to something bigger above them, we as Christians can do the same, pointing with our words and actions to what Jesus has done for us.

How often do you read footnotes in your Bible? You know, the notes in fine print at the bottom of the pages. Do you read them only during Bible class or in school, when the pastor or teacher tells you to?

Footnotes give us a deeper insight into parts of God's Word. For example, Genesis 50:23 says, "[Joseph] saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees." The footnote for this states, in reference to the last statement, "That is, were counted as his."

And then there's Deuteronomy 30:3: "Then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you." The lone footnote replaces "will restore your fortunes" with "will bring you back from captivity."

Why am I talking about footnotes?

We were, before the Holy Spirit put faith in our hearts, dead in our sins, shackled to the devil, a captive of Satan and his demons. There was no hope for us. At least, it seemed that way. Jesus had already taken away our sins with his death on the cross. But our sinful nature did not want to believe this. Consequently, we remained slaves to sin—by our own choice.

But when the Holy Spirit put faith in our hearts, we came to know Christ as our Savior. With his death on the cross, Jesus snapped the shackles of sin. He defeated the devil, crushing his head. In fact, he did exactly what the footnote in Deuteronomy said he would. He brought us back from captivity. He had compassion on us, and he gathers believers across the world to him in a loving embrace. In a similar fashion to Makir's children being placed on Joseph's knees, we have been set on God the Father's knees like little children, counted as his own.

But why?

We are here on this earth because God put us here. Just like the tiny footnotes in our Bibles, we are tiny creatures in a vast creation. Just as the translators of the Bible paid special attention to the footnotes, we know that God pays special attention to us and cares about us. And just as those footnotes point to something bigger above them, Christians do the same, pointing with our words and actions to what Jesus has done for us.

We may seem to be tiny, almost insignificant things in a lazy, perverted world, but just as Christians want to get deeper into the Word of God and take notice of the details and the footnotes, so too may we Christians be noticed for doing what God says is right in a world where evil abounds.