I want to be a "they" someday.

I remember a social studies teacher Mrs. Vierling quoting a very bright student with those words. You know “They say” or “they think.” I have to admit I have wanted to be a “they” as well. That is until I realized the responsibility that goes along with being a “they” expert. Once you become a “they” you have a rep to maintain. People believe what you say (well except your wife/husband that is a lost cause) and expect you to say profound wise stuff. If you have read these articles/blog for a bit you know what I know. It is hard to say profound, wise stuff when you are a fool like me. So I guess I thought I was a “they” but alas I am not.

More is better is the mantra of our culture. The opposite is more often true regarding the quantity and quality of words. Bob Goff author of Love Dares posted today speaking of God "I am." When you have all the power, you don't need all the words. God’s name “I AM” amazing in its brevity. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is only 2minutes and thirty seconds long. Lincoln was not regarded as a good speaker or even a speaker at all but he was the President and invited to speak and the nation remembered this most gruesome of battles where 46,000 to 51,000 Americans (Union and Confederate died). Great American Documents.com wrote of the address,

Lincoln was not the featured orator at the event—that was Edward Everett who spoke for over two hours. However, the president's two-minute, 272-word Gettysburg Address is arguably the most famous and most quoted in United States history.

“I should be glad…that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes,” Everett said.

It is easy to fall into the trap, I do it weekly, that more words will better explain it rather than the right words. God set the standard for brevity.

 ¹³ Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what should I tell them?” ¹⁴ God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:13-14 HCSB

What a fabulous answer. The God who was and is and is to come God, ever present, always there said “I AM” is my name. He always is. Now that’s a name. Lincoln must have wondered about following a great orator of the day. He may have thought of Everett as a “they.” Lincoln was there to add a “few appropriate remarks” and what remarks he added. He did not consider himself a “they.” He was there to honor the Americans who gave their lives. He was faithful to himself and his convictions. Less was more.

Less of ourselves, less of our importance and more of the one who is important. I AM is his name. Jesus as he made his way to Golgotha did not intend to become a “they.” NO, he was simply and resolutely determined to follow his Father and His plan for my/our salvation. In so doing he became a “they.”

Maybe one day I will be…          

In HIS Service and Yours,
Bro G