WHO
“The
Lord who created you says, … I have called you
by name – you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1
While I was
growing up in a rural area the question:
“Who are you?” was seldom raised.
Not only did one know who he/she was but also so did your neighbors and
almost everyone else in the area. One’s
status was largely determined by the reputation of older members of one’s
family and that identity was quite fixed and seemingly almost impossible to
change.
However, my
family’s migration to an urban area largely erased this clear sense of
identity. No one seemed to particularly
care about who you were and one’s reputation was rather quickly determined by
the type of area in which your family located, the church attended, the source
of family income, the school attended, and for young males much depended on
one’s proficiency in the sports valued by the peer group. The combination of these factors largely
eradicated a sense of one’s own identity and a new one was determined by the
impressions of others. The comfortable
security of knowing who one really was dissipated and frequently confusion
resulted over one’s self-identity.
However, as a believer it seemed advisable not to fret too much “who”
one was but rather “whose”. The fact
that a believer ultimately belongs to God tells us who we are: one of His
children and knowing to whom we belong makes it easier to juggle the various
identities thrust upon us by others.
Further, to know that we belong to God no longer results in confusion in
how to conduct ourselves; we not only know who we are but have expectations not
only to be a productive person but also to treat others with compassion. To know that we belong to Him and we are His
people impels us to witness to this fact: “Frequently, we are the only Bible
that some people will ever read.” Amen.