“I wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes, and just for that one moment, I could be you”- “Positively 4th Street”~Bob Dylan
Who do you say I am?
I think lately, I’ve been dealing with the idea that people have an idea of who I am, but they don’t actually know me. To know of something, is to have an idea of it, but to Know something is deep. It’s an intensive definition. I like the way Bob Dylan talks about this concept in this interview. If you want to watch the whole thing, I reccommend it. But if not, and you just want to know my reference, then you should watch starting at 3:00. While it is entertaining, there are some real concepts to what he's rambling about.
I don’t want to come across as the type to just be upset at the world, we all should be that type anyway. I think, I’ve got this notion that no person (here on earth) really knows me. I’m glad my relationship with Jesus Christ says differently. When I read Psalm 139, it reassures me that I’m alright. I like what David records in the first few verses:
“You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
You, LORD, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain. “-Psalm 139:1-6
Right there in the very first verse. “You know me”. I’m so thankful to have the Creator of the universe Know me. He doesn’t look at my history; He doesn’t hold me at fault for who I used to be. I really believe the Scriptures when it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, that I am a “new creation”. Do you? Do you think you are liable for the person you were? Do you think you are limited by who you once were, and disbelieve that the Lord can change you? I think it’s worldly to think amongst Christians that we will always do that which we have always done. If you really believe this, then it’s false. What Hope is that? That says you’ll never change, and you’ll never become closer to God. That your righteousness is in a sense, based on who you were. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”- 2 Corinthians 5:21
I don’t believe those that have the false doctrine that we’ll always do what we have done. If someone is focusing their whole person on Christ, and His goodness, how could they not come away changed? How could they not be someone else? The disciples were ordinary men (Acts 4:13), but had clearly been with Jesus. Do you see that in your brothers and sisters? A verse that rocks me to the soul is found in 1st Samuel.
“…The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7b
The Lord sees your heart. He doesn’t see just your outer shell. You may walk around with an idea, of who you are, and maybe people view you in a certain way, but the Lord sees differently. It is intimate. To Know someone’s heart is another level. I don’t need anyone to see me for what God has put in my heart, my security rests in what He says about me. Despite all of my shortcomings, there is love in me; there are things to be done.
I think our identities can be wrapped up in our baggage sometimes, as well. Where you’ve been, who you were hurt by, or who you hurt need to be reckoned with Jesus. In sincere repentance, and sincere devotion to His saving power, that baggage doesn’t need to follow you. With a burden that is light and a yoke that is easy (Matthew 11:30), Jesus actually wants to take your baggage. What a marvelous gift, we just have to be sure to give Him our hurt, our wounds, and our failures. When we do that, we will Know Him more, and we will experience the freedom that He gives us.
So now, let us love one another in Christ, and not in our circumstances. God’s done a mighty work in me, to change the awful boy that I once was, into a broken, saved child. We’re still sinful, and we need to know where we fall, but the fear to stop trying doesn’t come from God. A fear to love, a fear to go on is from the enemy. We have to be careful that we don’t take that fear in to our hearts, and embrace it. But embrace the power of God, and embrace the love that offers us. After all, God’s love has conquered the grave.
