I AM

Ex 3:13-20

For the Hebrews, knowing the name of a person somehow gives the knower power over that person. It is rather not polite to ask a person’s name therefore. One should wait for the person to volunteer revealing his name.

But Moses dared ask the Voice that spoke to him through the burning bush its name. And the Voice declared, “I AM.”

What? What a name!

The Voice that spoke to Moses through the burning bush was God Himself. And God revealed His name. It is “I AM”. In giving His name to Moses, God gave Moses the power to speak and act on His behalf. Knowing His name did not mean that Moses gained control over God, but that God exercised a more defined control over Moses and the events that would follow and lead to the liberation of Israel. It was as if God was telling Moses, “Beginning today, I AM in control. Not Pharaoh, not Israel, not you. I AM.”

We all know the dramatic story that followed this rendezvous between God and Moses. With signs and wonders, God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. We are aware of what I AM accomplishes for and through us when we submit to God’s power even today. I AM sets us free!

The more we submit our selves to the power of God, the more we are liberated from whatever or whoever enslaves us. Even when freedom is impossible, I AM can set us free.

The parting of the Red Sea shows us that God makes a way where there seems to be no way. As the song says, “He works in ways we cannot see. He will make a way for me….”

Today, let us make a more conscious resignation of our selves to the power of the Great I AM. Let us bind our selves to Him and He will set us free. Let us pray not to possess God; pray rather that God may possess us. Know His name; know His power.

We who have known His name and are liberated by His power must make others come to know the power of His name. It is our mission to reveal God to those around us until all are truly free.

For the Jews, knowing a person’s name means gaining control over that person. For us, Christians, knowing the name of God means submitting our selves completely to the power of God.
God made Himself vulnerable to us. He gave us His name. Let us make our selves vulnerable to God. He will always make a way.

Keep still and feel. It is now our hearts that burn, no longer just a bush. Keep still and listen. Your heartbeat whispers His name: “I AM…I AM…I AM….”