Day Ten -- I AM

Today as you come before God, ask Him to open your heart to mysteries you've not understood before. The Self-existence of God can be both humbling and awe-inspiring. Spend a few minutes quietly contemplating the reality that He had no beginning, nor an end. What does this mean to you? How does it impact the way you live your life?

Read

Read the following Scriptures, asking God to capture your heart with the awe His eternal status should inspire. When you have finished, prayerfully read the devotional.

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?

I am the … first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Exodus 3:14, Isaiah 43:13, Revelation 22:13

The first dramatic dialogue between God and Moses is a feast for the senses, filled with mind-boggling morsels. After getting his attention through blazing bush pyrotechnics and a blast of thunderous voice, God reveals His plan to deliver the Hebrew people from Egyptian bondage using Moses as their fearless leader.

One can almost imagine Moses the meek, bare feet burning, palms sweating, heart pounding, and voice trembling as He ekes out, "Who am I?" God quickly dismisses the question as irrelevant in light of the fact that He would be joining him in the venture, to which Moses, with perhaps a tad more boldness, asks, "Well, then – who are You?"

Moses's mindset at the time may reveal the significance of this weighty exchange. Having grown up among the Egyptians, he was familiar with many gods. He knew Heka, the goddess of procreation and Imhotep, the god of medicine. He was well acquainted with Isis, the goddess of life and Seth the protector of crops. He'd grown up with Hapi, guardian of the Nile and Osiris, giver of life -- but who was this God whose voice bellowed from a burning bush, bestowing such a call on him, a simple sheep-herder?

For Moses and the people to whom he would return, everything hinged upon the answer to this question. After 400 years in captivity, the memory of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was surely dim, if not completely obliterated for most. Instead, they were familiar with the same gods Moses knew, each one's name representing what it provided -- health, fertility, love, riches, lands, protection etc. --in exchange for their service. Without knowing the name of this God he'd so dramatically encountered, Moses had nothing to offer the people to entice them to follow.

God’s response was simple and stunning. "I AM who I AM. Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

Perhaps there are some lessons for the church to learn from this epic interchange. Clearly Moses felt that the way to convince the Hebrew people was to bring them a god who would meet them at some point of need, offering gifts that outshone those of other gods. Glancing across the landscape of Christianity today, it seems we are ever prone to make the same mistake. We condense the gospel message to a litany of good things that God is waiting to give. We expound in felt-need sermons, hoping to convince seekers who are looking for the god with the greatest goods. Peace, fulfilling careers, happiness, restored marriages, well rounded children, health, financial success -- God is the vehicle, we imply, just waiting for you and me to get on board.

But the eternal infinite Essence of being challenged Moses and us as well, to grasp that which makes all these things extraneous. I AM. This is the truth He calls each of us to recognize, and reckon with, and rest in. I AM who I AM. God is. And because He is, we have our being. This is the truth which hundreds of years later Jesus would dangerously flaunt, enraging pious Pharisees who sought to deny His divinity. 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'

In an impenetrable mystery, this God of the burning bush, the great I AM, shed His robes of glory to walk among men, while retaining His essence as Almighty. Jesus Christ was and is the great I AM, the God who cannot change, the eternal One who precedes and succeeds us, and from whom we derive the very air we breathe. Yes, He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, but those who seek must first believe that He is (Hebrews 11:6).

It is an irony that in the end, there is only One giver of good and perfect gifts, One who is truly benevolent. There is only One who can give without charge, for He has never had need of man's service to enrich Him. He is complete in every way -- full of glory -- and throughout Scripture shuns every suggestion of a quid pro quo relationship, every notion that people work for Him in order to earn His blessings.

I AM. This is the foundation, the hinge upon which all else hangs. This thought should plague, astonish, stun, comfort, and enflame our hearts. There is a God, an eternal river of past, present and future -- one unbroken continuum, undiminished, active and strong. (Tozer, A.W., The Divine Conquest , Christian Publications, 1950, p. 21.)

Only when we rightly understand this, can we begin to live in the freedom and wonder of His gift of salvation and the multitude of accompanying graces. Jesus is. Let the beauty of such a thing settle in our souls as we receive from His hands an eternity of joy.

Respond

Scripture both begins and ends with the self-existent God who has always been, is now and always will be. This reality must be the central theme of our thoughts about God and of every life devoted to His cause. Consider the tendency to seek the things God might give as more important than God Himself. Do you struggle with this? Why or why not?

Do you tend to see your service toward God as a means whereby you can earn the things He offers, or even His favor? What might be wrong with this thinking, given what you have read today? If God doesn't need what you have to offer, and doesn't offer His blessings as bribes for your obedience, what should be your motivation to serve Him? Spend some time pondering these questions.

As the “I AM”, Jesus transcends all the limitations of time in which we live. As the “I AM”, Jesus acts and no one can reverse it. In what ways can this bring you comfort, hope and encouragement? Consider and write a prayer of response.

A Prayer

Oh great and unfathomable I AM, You who have always been -- how can I ever grasp such a thing? You dwell completely outside of time, while I am driven by seconds and moments and hours and days. You are perpetually behind me, ever before me and always with me. Lift up my head O God to the transcendent wonder of Your uncreated existence. Transport me into heavenly realms where You act and it cannot be reversed. Let me rest in the infinite mystery that no one can thwart Your purposes. You are the Center, now come and be the Center of all that I am or think or do, O great I AM.

<< Back to the Daily Devotionals, Home or Unsubscribe