8/16: Identity

 

I read through the Bible each year using My Utmost Devotional Bible.[1] Each day’s reading is divided into four parts, so I read a selection each from the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, and the New Testament. The selections are in order, Genesis to Revelation, and it’s amazing how on many days, the readings from the different sections of the Bible still carry a consistent message and give parallel insight.

Such was the case when the Old Testament reading was I Chronicles, chapters 1 and 2. In what could have been a very boring list of names, I noticed the women who were mentioned. Their distinction was either who their fathers were, who their husbands were, or who their sons were. In other words, they received their identity from the men in their lives.

As I pondered that, I read the New Testament selection, Acts 4:1-22. In this account, the Sadducees and the rulers of the synagogue faced off with Peter and John after the healing of the lame man. Those leaders couldn’t deny the miracle, took note of the apostles’ boldness, “and they realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13d).

Wow! Do you see it? Identity comes not from who we are, but from with whom we are associated. We would know nothing about the women in the Bible had they been pushing to make a name for themselves. We know their identity and their influence because of their connections with the men in their lives. The synagogue leaders would probably have ignored Peter and John had it not been for their identity as followers of Jesus.

Regardless of our gender or earthly marital status, as believers, we should still draw our identity from the Man in our life. Do others know us by our identification with the God-man, Jesus Christ?

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©2013 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

 

Pick up a copy of Sharon’s book,

Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame,

available from New Hope Publishers, and Sharon’s newest release,

Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children, available for pre-sale from www.JudsonPress.com and all major online book buying sites.

 

 

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[1] My Utmost Devotional Bible. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1992.