Keeping Your Identity
As I was leaving the training center this past Friday, I found myself following a burned-out car sitting on top of a tow truck (see picture). No doubt the car was on its way to the wrecker’s yard. I had no idea what had happened to the car, but it had obviously been engulfed in flames for a prolonged amount of time. I pray that the driver of the car was safely out of the way. The fire was so destructive that I couldn’t identify the make and model of the car. It could have been a cool, colorful, fast, and furious vehicle, but all the gadgets, tools, and technology were destroyed in the fire. However, as the tow truck turned a corner, I managed to see clearly that the license plate on the car was still intact, unharmed by the flames that had engulfed the vehicle. I believe that license plates are coated with a special product that prevents them from catching fire as quickly as other parts of the car. The license plate allows us to identify the car when nothing else is left to identify something from. It also identifies who owns it.
As I followed this tow truck home, I was reminded that there is not much in our life that will last forever. Some of the gadgets that we use to manage our life won’t work one day, the nicely decorated exteriors of our life will tarnish at some stage, and perhaps there will come a day when we can’t do what we were created to do. BUT, when all else is lost, there is still a something left – our identity as men. We could lose the external appearance, but we can never lose our inside identity, who we are. That’s been given and assigned by God.
Bible Verse:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be” – Matthew 6:19-21
What this Means
• We often treasure things that won’t last forever –outward appearance as well as the flashy and the functional. They can be susceptible to accidents, corrosion, and crashes.
• One thing will last is who we are. Our identity is not defined by what we have, and it’s defined by who God has made us be. This internal identity will last when the external circumstances change.
• We are wise when we invest our time & resources into things that will last.
Question for Reflection
What can I do to treasure and strengthen my identity? Who I am on the inside?
As I followed this tow truck home, I was reminded that there is not much in our life that will last forever. Some of the gadgets that we use to manage our life won’t work one day, the nicely decorated exteriors of our life will tarnish at some stage, and perhaps there will come a day when we can’t do what we were created to do. BUT, when all else is lost, there is still a something left – our identity as men. We could lose the external appearance, but we can never lose our inside identity, who we are. That’s been given and assigned by God.
Bible Verse:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be” – Matthew 6:19-21
What this Means
• We often treasure things that won’t last forever –outward appearance as well as the flashy and the functional. They can be susceptible to accidents, corrosion, and crashes.
• One thing will last is who we are. Our identity is not defined by what we have, and it’s defined by who God has made us be. This internal identity will last when the external circumstances change.
• We are wise when we invest our time & resources into things that will last.
Question for Reflection
What can I do to treasure and strengthen my identity? Who I am on the inside?
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