Who Am I?

Hello, my name is Wynn Collier, and today I'm going to read a piece I wrote for Our Daily Bread titled, Who Am I? In 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton declared himself Emperor of the United States. Norton had made and lost his fortune in San Francisco shipping, but he wanted a new identity, America's first emperor. When the San Francisco Evening Bulletin printed Emperor Norton's announcement, most readers laughed. Norton made pronouncements aimed at correcting society's ills, printed his own currency, and even wrote letters to Queen Victoria asking her to marry him and unite their kingdoms. He wore royal military uniforms designed by local tailors.

One observer said Norton looked every inch a king. But of course, he wasn't. We don't get to make up who we are. Many of us spend years searching for who we are and wondering what value we possess. We flail, trying to name or define ourselves when only God can truly tell us the truth about who we are. And thankfully, he calls us his sons and daughters when we receive salvation in his son, Jesus. Yet to all who did receive him, John writes, he gave the right to become children of God.

And this identity is purely a gift. We are his beloved children, who are, as John says, born not of natural descent nor of human decision, but born of God. God gives us our name and our identity in Christ. We can stop striving and comparing ourselves to others because he tells us who we are.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from John chapter 1, verses 6-13. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. Let's pray. God, we know that we're Yours. Help us feel confidence in knowing that we're born of You. Children of the King. Thank You, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.