When Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery, Moses wanted to know what to call God. The Lord told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” (Exodus 3:14). These mighty words caused the whole group of soldiers to fall to their feet. They were trying to arrest Jesus, and He only spoke these two words, at that moment all of them went to the ground. There is power in knowing who God.
Jesus uses this phrase, “I am” a lot during His life on Earth. The Disciple John tell us that Jesus spoke to crowd and said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” (John 6:35). One of the reasons that Jesus spoke this was because people were amazed at His miracle of feeding the 5,000. That is a lot of people. The crowds found him the next day and asked Him what His sign was. They said, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” (John 6:30). To paraphrase, they were saying, “You only gave us one meal, but Moses gave our people bread every morning and quail every night.” They were taking Jesus’ extraordinary miracle and making it look average. Jesus explained to them that it was not Moses that gave them Manna, it was God.
God has a heart to help us get on our feet. What is our role? We have to follow the good shepherd. Jesus was in a way telling this crowd yes I provided for one meal but even that bread only lasted for a time. When we receive Jesus as our savior, we get the bread of life! This bread doesn’t just last for a moment, it is eternal. 1 Timothy 6:15-16 tells us, “15 which He will [a]bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of [b]kings and Lord of [c]lords, 16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.” Only God is immortal. Our bodies and souls are mortal without God. He alone holds immortality. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden, they had access to the Tree of Life. Yet they gave that up for a lie. They doubted God’s heart. They were banished from the Garden so they wouldn’t have to live eternity in their fallen state. Thankfully Jesus has redeemed us. In a way, He has now become for us the Tree of Life.
Being a Christian is about knowing God’s heart. God wants us all to know who He really is. There is nothing ordinary about Jesus. He goes against the current. He is our provider. I’m believing that if you are in need, the Lord is going to provide for you. Begin to walk out your faith and use wisdom. Work hard to provide for your love ones, but know that God is our true provider. He gives us the grace every day to love and accomplish His will.
