Gò0dNews for Everyone
The Great I AM
A
by Arlene Ledbetter
s I listened to the Sunday morning sermon at Cedar
have closure on the meaning of a passage that had long
Hill Church, my eyes felt heavy. Earlier, I’d stood
eluded me.
to sing the old hymns, bowed my head in prayer,
“The Great I Am,” the preacher continued, “is bread
and placed my weekly quarter in the offering plate. Now,
when you are hungry and light when you grope in
though, my eyes closed and my mind wandered.
the darkness. If you are lost, He is the door into God’s
“Stay awake,” Mama whispered.
sheepfold. If you’re uneasy about the next step, the Good
Just then, the preacher said something like, “So God told
Shepherd wants to guide you in paths of righteousness.
Moses to go tell the Pharaoh ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Have you believed a lie? Are you facing death? Are you
I sat up straight. “I AM? Oh, man, I missed it again.” Through the years, I’d heard my preacher and guest speakers talk about The Great I AM passage in the third chapter of Exodus. I always tuned in too late. The Great I AM what? I am strong? I am holy? I am old? I am angry? I am the great and powerful Oz? Years flew by. I was a young adult sitting in Central Emmanuel Church. As I had all my life, I sang and prayed and gave and listened. The preacher was doing a series of messages on The Seven I Am Passages in John’s Gospel. • I Am the Bread of Life • I Am the Light of the World • I Am the Door of the Sheep
wandering aimlessly? Jesus is life, truth, and the way. Do
• I Am the Good Shepherd
you want to make a difference in this world? His Spirit can
• I Am the Resurrection and the Life
flow through you. Please listen carefully, my friends. The
• I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
Great I Am is anything and everything you will ever need.”
• I Am the Vine, and You are the Branches (6:35, 8:12, 10:7, 10:11, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1) Somewhere in the midst of that series, the preacher directed us back to Moses and The Great I AM. He asked us, “Have you ever wondered, ‘The Great I AM what?’”
Closure. I’d wanted closure for so long. Instead, the eyes of my heart were opened and I began a lifelong journey of discovering all Jesus is and all I am through Him. “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am’” (John 8:58).
stung my eyes. I leaned forward, determined to finally
32 // June 2020
About The Author
Goosebumps popped up on my arms. Hot tears Arlene Ledbetter holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Dalton College in Georgia. She has written adult Sunday school curriculum and contributed to five Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Visit her at www.arleneledbetter.net.