identity

As a Law Enforcement Officer, whenever I go up to a vehicle I first ask for the person’s license, registration, and then proof of insurance. Most of the time when I ask the driver where they are coming from it’s either going to work, or coming from work. They usually tell me where they work and that they are running late for some reason.

I was thinking about this for a while. Our Identity… Where do we put our identity. I’m going to go through each piece of paper that you would hand an officer and relate it to our relationship with God. It’ll be a little different than the actual paper, but for the past week this is what I believe God has been putting on my heart.

License:
What is our license? Well, it obviously tells us who we are. It gives a nice little picture that most people don’t like. Then if gives a few other pieces of information that explains more about us. Some of that other information includes where we live, height, weight, sex, color of eyes, color of hair and our date of birth. This tiny little card is packed with all kinds of information about us. It’s our identification…

Don’t you find it interesting when someone is asked to tell about themselves, one of the first things they start talking about is what job they have. We identify ourselves as what we do for a living and our families. When I was asked one time to describe myself, I never even mentioned that I am a born again believer. THAT SUPPOSE TO BE MY LIFE!!! I thought about it for a while and it struck me…

Why don’t we identify ourselves as a follower of Christ FIRST???

Now I know that some people are going to say, “Well, you don’t want the other person to feel uncomfortable or if they are not a Christian you might offend them.” Honestly? That’s a pretty pathetic excuse of denying Christ. I’ve had people tell me that it’s not that we deny Christ it’s just respectful not to throw it on them. I feel that is absolutely ridiculous. When we accept Christ into our lives we are asking God to come into our life and to lead us in our lives. That being said God shouldn’t just be our number one but our everything. He is our identity and what we need to live for.

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake be made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
~II Corinthians 5:16-21~

We are not our own. We are Christ’s. We were bought with a price. The verses explain that we are a new creation in Christ. Christ has made us righteous through himself. I strongly feel that if you are a believer this is something that should be in our daily walk and should be showing not only in our actions but in our words when we say that we are a child of God.

When we pull out our identity when asked it should
always include that we are a child of God
and a follower of Christ.

So, when asked, tell others who you really are through the blood of Christ. Tell others in a bold way that you are a follower of Christ. It’s your true identity.

Registration:
Another piece of information that I usually ask for is someone’s registration to their vehicle. The registration shows that you own that vehicle. Now, I’m going to change it up a little bit. Let’s look at this with the eyes of your registration to life. Who are you registered to? Where are you registered to?

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.”
~Philippians 3:20-4:1~

When I die I know that I am going to go to heaven. My registration is with God in heaven. When you accept Christ into your life, your registration or citizenship belongs in heaven with our amazing Savior! What a beautiful thought!!!

Proof of Insurance:
When I have pulled people over, so many people have either forgotten their insurance card or they actually don’t have insurance on their vehicle. The excuses of not having their insurance cards sometimes gets a bit ridiculous.

Now lets take a bit different look at this. Do you have proof that you have your citizenship in heaven? When other people see you do they see Christ within you? It’s an amazing challenge on my own life and how I walk in my day to day routine.

I have always enjoyed the analogy (I don’t quite remember where or who made this) that if we were to stand trial in front of  a judge and jury would we have enough evidence  to convict us of being a follower of Christ. Do you have that proof?

Honestly we shouldn’t have to pull out a card that shows that we have proof that we are a Christian. People should be able to see our walk and how we live our lives to know that we are followers of God and love God.

Eventually, some day we are going to go home to be with God. I want all my paperwork to show that I was living for God and that I truly made a point to serve Him and never be embarrassed to tell others that I am a follower of Christ. I want God to be able to see me in the end of my life and be proud of the way I lived. So, let’s start living our lives truly for Christ and actually be proclaiming that we are a child of God! Let’s stop sitting back and let other people do the work! It’s time we actually showed what it means to follow Christ, not just by our identification but also our actions.

God has this unfathomable love toward us. Let us be the ones to share this love toward others. Lets prove to others that God loves them through our actions. God’s love should be our motivation.

“For I am sure that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor  rulers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers,
nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord”~Romans 8:38-39