"And suddenly a
voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.” (NKJV)
Matthew 3:17
It seems like everywhere we go
nowadays, everything we do and buy, someone is asking for our identification.
They are trying to identify who we are or who we say we are. Scammers are
always trying to steal our identity. But, who are we? Who are you?
Recently we saw that famous
actor James Earl Jones died. Jones was known for many famous roles, but was
prominently known as the voice of Darth Vader from the "Stars Wars"
franchise. He was also the voice of Mufasa, in the animated Disney movie,
"The Lion King." In the movie, Mufasa, the King, has been betrayed
and killed by his brother, Scar. Mufasa's son, Simba, has run away and become a
coward, hiding away in the backlands. Mufasa visits Simba in a dream and yells
at him, "You have forgotten me!" Simba denies this, of course, to
which Mufasa says, "You have forgotten who you are, so you have forgotten
me." Mufasa reminds Simba, "You are my Son!"
In Matthew 3, God declares to
all assembled that Jesus is His Son, in whom He is well pleased. In some
translations God speaks directly to Jesus saying, "You are my Son, in whom
I am well pleased." Jesus is the Son of God. And the Son of Man.
We are also the children of
God. We are His Sons. But when the world overwhelms us, our problems crash down
on us, or if people ask if we are followers of God, His children, do we go
silent when it is inconvenient? Do we, like Peter, deny it? Do we forget to go
to God when we feel like we can handle it better ourselves? How often we have
felt alone, abandoned, but God was there waiting for us to seek him out in
prayer. How He waits for us to worship Him and praise Him for all our many
blessings He has given us. And yet, like a petulant child, we go and complain
of the things we don't have or didn't get and ask for more. We sometimes forget
He is our Father, but we certainly treat God like a parent when we want or need
something, don't we?
But here is the good news! 1
John 4:4 reminds us that, "But you belong to God, my dear children. You
have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in
you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world." God, our Father,
has conquered the world for us. We need to remember our identification next
time someone asks us for it, or the world throws troubles our way. We are the
Sons and Daughters of God! Let us never forget who we are and let us declare it
to the world!
Amen!
One thing to remember though: "You can speak of God and not mention
the Sons of Confederate Veterans, but you cannot speak of the Sons of
Confederate Veterans and not mention God!"
