Competing For 'I Am'
As our church service was about to end yesterday, a brother commented about how we typically don’t spend a lot of time talking about God as ‘I Am,’ and just use the phrase ‘I am’ in our everyday life like it’s nothing. This may not seem like some earth-shattering statement, but it got me instantly considering the merit of this observation. First of all, it’s a reference to both Exodus 3:14 and later John 8:58, where God refers to Himself as ‘I Am’. If you want to read a good and simple explanation on this matter, please check out this GotQuestions.org article. The bottom line is God is the only One who can rightfully claim self-sufficiency. This brings us to an important question — HOW are we competing for ‘I Am’?
Option 1
We are running our race (competing) on behalf of God (‘I Am’), and doing our best to represent Him. Jesus is the Lord of our lives.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
—Hebrews 12:1-2
Option 2
We are competing against God for who will hold the title of ‘I Am’ in our lives. Instead of living as if Jesus is the Lord of our lives, we cling to lordship over our own lives.
Let’s be honest here. We’re all going to struggle to not fall into Option 2. That’s our human nature. However, if we have professed our desire to live out Option 1, and even call Jesus our Lord, then this has to be the goal we keep running after. That means, we don’t treat ‘I am’ statements like they’re nothing. We certainly don’t treat THE ‘I Am’ like He’s an afterthought in our lives. I’m going to try and be more sensitive to the ‘I am’ statements I make in my life. It’s understandable if we’re using basic grammar to describe something straightforward (i.e. ‘I am hungry’), since no authority is being challenged. Nonetheless, let’s try to examine our motives in all the ‘I am’ statements we make. Do they challenge God’s authority in any way? Do they take glory away from God? Are we false identifying in some way? Let’s embrace this challenge and see what God shows us…