Identity is a big word and consideration, pivotal really.  As we ponder throughout our days Who God is, we can’t help but to more and more consider who we are in relation to Him.  We certainly cannot compare ourselves to Him except to admit and agree with Scripture that we are less than nothing (Isaiah 40).  In comparison to His glory and virtue, we are like grass that fades, and yet because of our sin we are worse than the weakest created things because we deserve God’s wrath and purging fire to remove us from this Earth promptly.  However, when we consider the stars and we look at the glorious creation all around us (photo for this post taken by my buddy, Thomas Atkins, here in the Sierra Nevadas), we are floored to realize that we are still here.  We haven’t been crushed yet!  God has had mercy on us to give us life and breath and every good thing as long as we remain alive here, whether we are believers or not.  This is His common grace, His provision of sustained mercies for His created humanity.

In this place we learn to be grateful to God and speak of His mercy to one another, saying, “God bless you!” and other cordial kindnesses.  Yet, there is a deep unsettled pondering in each of us that something is still not all okay with this life.  We come to have to admit that we are not altogether comfortable with the idea of facing the Eternal and Only God, the One we will admit Who must have made us, the God of the Old and New Testaments.  As this consideration comes over us there is only one meditation that calms our fears, the full embracing of the Cross of Christ, Jesus’ dying to remove the sinner’s sin, being for ME!

Isaiah 44 speaks of the believer’s true identity as being The LORD’s.  I wrote this on my hand, “The LORD’s” this morning, as the passage says, “…another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and name himself by the name Israel.”  Living out this identity is where true living in this life really begins.  Only as one of God’s children does food really taste good, does relationship really start being deeply satisfying, does prayer actually feel right and refreshing, does forgiveness sink in, does eternity sound exciting like HOME WITH CHRIST.  I am His!  I’m owned by another since I’ve been bought at the price of Jesus’ blood.  This relentless love gives me relentless interest in the lives of those around me!  As we are overwhelmed by this relentless grace of God, we begin gaining momentum in our prayer and action life.  We pray with genuine concern for our own hearts, the hearts of those around us, and an ever deepening of our faith in and love for this God Who owns us.

The old hymns Abide with Me and I Need Thee Every Hour come to mind.  The more aware we are of being owned by God and His tools for grace in one another’s lives and the lives of the lost, the more nearly reckless we will want to live.  Our deepest comfort is found in meditating on the love of Christ shown to us on the cross, and our natural response is relentless love for those God has placed in our lives.

Let’s live all in and all there today, friends.  Let’s genuinely engage with one another and live out the reality of being The LORD’s.

In His friendship and deep hope,

– Torrey