"Identity"

What really makes you who you are,

Have you ever thought of that,

Heredity, geography,

And where you hang your hat?

Your race, gender and accent,

Your education, too,

Let’s not forget what you believe,

It’s all a part of you.

And, me, I was raised cowboy,

So that explains my roots,

Way out in the country,

A-horseback wearing boots.

But choices that defined me,

And took me down the road,

Determined what all happened,

I reaped the seeds I sowed.

And sometimes it was failure,

That controlled the way I felt,

And of course relationships,

And all the cards they dealt.

If you cut me, I bleed cowboy,

Cuss me, I’ll ride away,

If you give me some respect,

You’ll find that I will stay.

I’ve carried many burdens,

And unforgiveness, true,

Had to deal with bitterness,

Life’s disappointments, too.

But in it all and through it all,

The season, it would bring,

What became my history,

Was not the whole durned thing.

Instead, it’s what the Lord says,

About who we really are,

And He’s the One who knows us,

And that is true by far.

It’s not what others told you,

Not even what you think,

But what He says about you,

And that’s the vital link.

He calls us His own children,

He knows each one by name,

He gives us our identity,

And none exactly the same.

But unique in our giftings,

And in our mission, too,

And all that really matters,

Is if we believe, then do.

So cowboy, yes, that’s who I am,

But deeper still than that,

I am a Jesus follower,

Beneath this cowboy hat.

“God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory…” (Hebrews 2:10, NLT))

It is God’s choice to save and bring us to Himself. He chooses us before we choose HIm. Some believe He chooses some, but not others. I disagree. I believe He chooses all and Jesus died for all, even though some reject Him. It is His choice of us and our cooperation with Him that gives us our spiritual identity. When Jesus is Lord, every single thing that makes you who you are is something He will use to craft you into the person He’s called you to be. Nothing is ever wasted in God’s economy. All things are used by Him to shape our God-given identity, which uniquely reflects to other who He is. Our lives are unique advertisements for God.

Lord, help us receive and live out our God-given identity, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tyler Crow, tylercrow.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Tyler, and God bless you.