Gary Miller
Monday, June 30, 2025 8:15 am

I was cleaning out my hunting vehicle as I do every year after the deer and turkey seasons. This time, however, I done a more thorough cleaning. I found licenses from several years back and from different states. A long time ago, I thought I would keep a license from every state I've hunted in. But I didn't. I figured they would only remind me of all the times I came home empty handed. The other reason is they are all pretty much the same. The colors or size may be different, but they all contain the same information. Name, address, SS number, height, weight, color of eyes and hair, and date of birth. Pretty boring stuff. Over the past several decades, I have only been checked by a game warden a couple of times. Each time, they take my take my license to make an identification. After that, they check my live-well, or my truck for anything suspicious. Why do they do that after seeing my license? Because my license is only my identification. It's not my identity. My identification tells him or her who I am. My identity tells them what I am. You see, Identification is how others distinguish you. Identity is how you distinguish yourself. Identification is what's on the outside; identity is who you really are on the inside. Identification is how others recognize you. Identity is how you recognize yourself. And here's the thing. If you don't know who you are, there will always be someone who will be more than happy to tell you who they think you are, or who they think you ought to be. And that can be disastrous. But how do we know what our identity is? Well, it always comes from our creator. That is, when someone creates something, they know why they created it, what they created it to do and be, and what their own relationship to it is supposed to be. So, what does that say about our identity? It says that we can either get it from an outside source, or we can get in from God - the One who created us. One cannot be trusted. The other can. So, what does God say about us? He says our identity is not found in our successes or failures. It's not found in our past, present, or future. It's not in our awards, affiliations, or attributes. It's not in our pain, persecutions, or problems. Our identity is found in what God says about us. What is that? Let me give you a few things found in the Bible.

I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world

I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins through the grace of God

I am forever free from condemnation.

I am an heir of God and fellow heir with Christ.

I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God

I have been given the mind of Christ.

I am blessed with every spiritual blessing.

I am God's workmanship, created in Christ to do His work that He planned for me.

I am a citizen of heaven.

I have been made complete in Christ.

I have been given a spirit of power, love, and discipline.

I may come boldly before the throne of God to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need

I have been given all of God's promises.

My identification is not my identity. Neither is yours.