“Listen my radiant one,
If you ever lose sight of me
just follow in my footsteps where I lead my lovers.
Come with your burdens and cares.
Come to the place near the sanctuary of my shepherds-
there you will find me.

My dearest one…
Let me tell you how I see you-
you are so thrilling to me.

To gaze upon you is like looking
at one of Pharaoh’s finest horses-
a strong, regal steed pulling his royal chariot.

Your tender cheeks are aglow-
Your earrings and gem-laden necklaces
set them ablaze.

We will enhance your beauty,
encircling you with our golden reins of love.
You will be marked with our redeeming grace.”

Song of Songs  1:8-11 (tPt) 

Who are you, really?  Do we know who we are? How often do you think about who you were created to be?  If we do not know the answer to this question, then nothing else we talk about from here on out will matter.  You see, your whole life hinges on this question…Who are you?   Where do you get your identity?  From spouse? Children? Family? Job? Friends?  Or maybe even “Church”?  What about successes or failures?

As you read through “Created for significance”, did you have a hard time believing that this was about you, or could possibly be what God sees and thinks of you?  Orphan or beloved child, which one is your heart convinced of?  Do you live your life knowing that you are an adopted, accepted and dearly loved child of God or does your life reflect the forgotten, abandoned and orphaned child who must beg for love and bread crumbs?  Do you know that the choice between the two is actually up to you?  Your Father in heaven has already made His choice about you and has shouted it clearly from the foundations of the world, the depths of the oceans and the heights of the heavens.  (Or from your mother’s womb we might even say.)  He has not changed His mind.  He does not doubt or regret His decision to love and adopt you.  He will never revoke the inheritance He has freely given you.  Ever.

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.”  Jeremiah 1:5a

“Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of Lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change.  God was delighted to give us birth by the truth of His infallible Word so that we would fulfill His chosen destiny for us and become the favorite ones out of all His creation!” 

James 1:18 (The Passion Translation)

You are not an orphan, you are not a slave, you are His favorite chosen child who He also calls “friend”.

So, who are you?  Where do you get your identity?  If we believe we get our identity by what we do (successes or failures), or by spouse, children, family, job, friends or even church, we are in trouble because these things can and will change. Shifting as sand along the seashore.  And when they do, we will be in danger of believing that we have been forgotten and abandoned…orphaned.  But if we receive our identity from our Father in heaven, come what may, we will always know that no matter what, we are loved, accepted, and cherished as His dearly beloved child.  Our “worst case scenario” will always be that He will never leave or forsake us.  Your identity is in the unknown and unseen moments between you and your heavenly Father only.  Oneness.  The gift of time spent with Him will define who you are in the moments that are seen by others, while also setting a course for your future. 

Who are you?  Only the favorite and chosen child of the King of everything!  And well, that would make you a Prince or Princess of the castle would it not?