Posted by Michael
The topic of identity has become a buzzword in Christian circles in the past few years.Your identity describes who you are, where you have been, and can often help give you direction about where to go next. Identity is what makes you, you. It is what sets you apart from others.
Nations, like people have their own identity.The Israelite people that walked out of Egypt and into the unknown had a serious identity problem. All they had ever known as a people was slavery. Everything in their lives had been dictated to them by their Egyptian masters. What time they woke up, how they spent their day, where they could travel to, what they would eat, all of it was defined by the Egyptians. So, standing in the desert heat, the people experienced freedom for the first time in hundreds of years, and they were overwhelmed. It was at this point that God stepped in and helped the people understand who they were.
They were His children.
To remind them of all that it meant to have God as father, He instructed them to build a movable temple to remain in the midst of the people. The temple would represent the presence of God. This was to remind them that no matter where they went, God would be with them. To be God’s child means that you are never alone, because God is always in your midst. You are protected, because the God who is with you, loves you. There is a plan for your life that’s bigger than you or your circumstances, and it’s better than your dreams could ever imagine.
Life leaves us all battered and bruised and unsure of who we are or why we matter. We dive into our work, relationships, or hobbies, hoping to define ourselves by our accomplishments, but it never works. Every day starts with something else to prove and someone else to impress. It’s into that empty space that God steps and declares, “I am yours and you are mine, there is nothing left to prove and no one to impress”. The daily discipline of believing Him, is the heart of the Christian life. We now know who we are, and it’s far better than we had ever hoped.