MARK 14 - I AM

   In the past I have mentioned my struggle with referring to God as, well, God. Much of this reluctance stems from the appearance that His title/name has been so misused and generally lacks the reverence to which He is entitled. For whatever reason, while reading Mark 14:62, the passage struck me as peculiar.

      Jesus said, “I AM” (NLT)

   What a strange way to refer to oneself. So: on a whim, I searched to see if there were any other such occurrences. Sure enough, the same type of grammatical intent had been applied in Exodus 3 14.

God replies to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you. (NLT)

   Perhaps God, and in direct correlation, Jesus, struggle with titles as well. Without doubt, God is fully aware that humans utilize titles to create boxes. Being what we are, we find comfort and order in placing everything into categories. Even so, there had to be more to this whole choice of using the phrase, “I AM". An underlying message, if you will.

   Please bear with me as I stray from the beaten path for a moment. How would we pray without relying on the names of God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Yahweh, and so forth? In private, individual prayer, this approach works pretty good, it is unnecessary to use God's name because we know to whom we are speaking. For comparison, consider how you engage a friend when others are not part of the conversation; you seldom, if ever, use their name. However, I cannot imagine journaling a prayer or praying in public without using a name. To do so, people would have the capacity to become easily lost or disconnected.

   Now, let s get back to the premise of “I AM”. Not being fully aware of how this little nugget of insight developed (perhaps the Holy Spirit can be given credit), I came to realize that “I AM” is much bigger than merely a person or entity, much more than a name or title. Organized into a context which we can understand, if only briefly, “I AM” conjures thoughts of everything. No, not just everything, but EVERYTHING. “I AM” is air. Light. Water. The bread of life. Life itself. The blue in your eyes. The aroma of a char broiled steak with sautéed onions and mushrooms. A tree. The clouds. Galaxies. Happiness. Love. Okay, it is possible that I stretched the presence of God in the color of your eyes or the pleasant smells of tantalizing foods, but God did provide us with the capacity to recognize and appreciate such! As I said, “I AM” is everything. Thus, the nature and presence of God. No matter what you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch, “I AM" is somehow invested.

   Having that perspective, close your eyes (not until you are done reading this passage, of course), and sense God's arms gently wrapping around and holding you safely. Remain in that state for a while, push all other thoughts out of your mind, it is just you and God. “I AM” is present in His fullest form. Open your eyes ••• He is still there, everywhere.