Who Are You Really?

    Who are you really?

     Some of us think we are the product of our upbringing or our education. Some of us think we can be whatever we focus our minds on.  Some of us think we are just the sum of our experiences. Yet others think we can never really know ourselves at all.

     Now, Jeremiah, the prophet, indicated that we were clay in the hands of a Master Potter; So I am not sure that anything in the list above is really true.  Sometimes I think our upbringings, educations, experiences, and even our own desires do more to confuse us about who we are than anything.

     After all if God , the God of the universe, took the time and trouble to forge us then He had a purpose in that forging. If that is so surely He made us complete with all the gifts and talents we would ever need to accomplish that purpose.

     Have you ever heard of a tool craftsman who forged a screw-driver to drive nails? No! that would be ridiculous. If a craftsman needed to create a tool to drive nails he would make a hammer. And that item would continue to be a hammer even if it was told all its life by everyone around, it should be a screw driver. Even if it felt in itself it would like to be a paintbrush, a hammer could never do a good job of coloring a wall. Even if a foolish carpenter tried to use it as a pair of pliers the hammer could only ever be a hammer. You see, it was created for a purpose and could  only ever be successful in that purpose.

     Who are you really?

     The truth is down deep inside of you. Your identity was forged with you in the womb. God knew you and imprinted your identity deep inside you before you were even born. Yet the moment you came into the world everything in the world began trying to steal your identity.

     The power of sin exercised its strength upon you and told you, you were a thief, an alcoholic, or a homosexual. Yet none of those were part of the original design. Sin stole your identity.

      Who are you really?

      Relationships rose up in your life and took the place of God. Suddenly what people thought about you took the place of what God thought about you. An earthly father told his son he was weak and the boy gave up His God identity to prove he was no sissy. An earthly mother told her daughter no one would marry her if she gained too much weight; So the daughter gave up her God identity to prove she was beautiful.

     Who are you really?

      You went to school and learned that you came from a monkey and that life was about what you knew and who you knew. So you turned to amass knowledge and influence only to find out with Solomon that it was all “vanity”.

    Who are you really?

     I have done a lot of thinking about this lately. I feel like I’ve spent half my life trying to figure out who I am, by asking the world around me, only to find out that it never really had the answer to begin with.

     I know the answer is found in God alone. He and I are on a journey inward to find the answer that He spoke into my life long ago. I know that when I put away sin, my fear of what others think about me, and even my varied life experiences, when I gaze into the Word of truth and apply it to my life I shall know more than ever before who I was made to be.

     Who am I really? I am a child of God made to reflect His image. I was made a little lower than the Heavenly beings and I was clothed with glory and honor. I was made to be in fellowship with God and to draw other men into that fellowship by my life. I am who the word of God says I am regardless of what the world, the flesh, and the devil tell me I am.

… And if you will accept it THROUGH CHRIST so are you!

The Garden Lush

     I am a teetotaler. I have never been drunk in my life. Dad did make me go into a bar the week I got engaged because he thought I needed the experience at least once before I tied the knot. I had a Coke. 

     Truthfully, I never saw the point of sitting on a stool pouring my sorrows into a glass. If I were the drinking kind that’s what I’d be doing. I’m just that addictive sort, you know. It’s good I found Jesus before I had the chance to try the other side.

    While I may never feel the need to toss one back, I do have to admit I am a garden lush. That is to say, I may not drink my sorrows away but when I am out of sorts there is nothing like ripping out a few kudzu vines or digging root holes to calm myself down. In fact for those of you who read my last post, I have to say it’s often the first step to getting out of my pajamas.

     Sometimes just the scent of the garden can take away the heebie-jeebies of life. Sitting down and drinking in the fragrance draws me closer to the Creator and the peace He has left with me.

     Then, too, there is the satisfaction of knowing you have coaxed beauty out of  the earth. I think something in man was made for that. When Adam was created his role was to tend the garden and to walk with God in its shade. 

    I do not know if Adam had stressors or not. But I am willing to bet that if he did, he did not turn to the fruit of the vine to send them packing away. I’m quite sure the sound of God’s voice above the sweet rushing waters was enough to calm even his greatest agitation.  Maybe what we need today is not more “watering holes” or pharmacies. Maybe what we need to set us right is more gardens where we can pray!

Where do you take your stress? What do you do to find relief?