By Ben Stokes
SCRIPTURE
Exodus 3:14
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
OBSERVATION
What a monumental passage! This week our devotions are centered on evangelism, and I cannot think of another text in Scripture more motivating for this task. Let’s try and take in all that is happening here: God calls Moses and is sending him to the enslaved Israelites to represent them and ultimately deliver them. How does Moses respond to God’s invitation? Similar to how most of us respond to God when He prompts us to share the hope within us… “No way I can do this.” In fact, a few verses down Moses lists several reasons why he believes God has picked the wrong person for the job. No doubt, he is thinking to himself, “Who am I?” With this self-awareness, Moses asks God, “Who do I tell them is sending me?” God’s response, “I AM who I AM. Tell them I AM has sent me to you.” Immediately this gives us pause. What does that even mean? The short answer… a lot. Let’s look at two ways this revelation of God motivates us for evangelism:
- It motivates us for evangelism because following God and being obedient to what He is asking us to do is in large part how our knowledge and love for God grows. When God reveals His name as “I AM,” what He is essentially telling Moses is “there is no way I can describe to you who I am. There are no words in the human vocabulary that will do Me justice. If you want to know who I am then follow me and you will see for yourself the kind of God that I am.” We read the book of Exodus and we find out that this is exactly what happened. As the Israelites followed God, they learned about His holiness on Mount Saini, His strength as He routed their enemies, His ability to provide for their needs with manna to eat, and ultimately, they learned that He alone could lead them to life. We know God has instructed us to follow Him by sharing our faith (Matthew 16:15-16; Philemon 1:6; Psalm 96:2-4). When we are diligent to share our faith with others, we will see the transforming power of the gospel literally bring people from darkness to light, the broken made new, those in bondage set free, addictions defeated, and new life experienced. As we see God move in lives around us, our faith is strengthened as well. There is so much to be said on this point, but the glaring reality is that evangelism transforms everyone involved, and when we share the hope within us and see God on the move, our knowledge and appetite for Him grows and we want more, we want to share more, and the cycle continues. You will never fully experience God apart from making His name known to others.
- Knowing God is the Great I AM also assures us that He’s self-existent. He is not dependent on anyone or anything for His existence. He is, always has been, and always will be. He is the sustainer of all things, He is immutable, unchanging in His being. This means that God is not in the process of becoming something. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, which for evangelism gives us supreme confidence! God is not dependent or affected by anyone or anything to accomplish His purposes. It doesn’t matter how hard-hearted you feel your friend might be toward the gospel; it doesn’t matter how ill-equipped you feel—none of that matters because the self-existent One is with you. You can’t accomplish obedience in evangelism alone, and we have One with us that is Ruler of all, standing with us. Moses says, “Who am I to go to the Israelites in Egypt to bring them out,” and God says, “It’s not about who you are. It’s about who I am.” Let this truth be our motivation for evangelism!
OBEDIENCE
There are many ways we can be obedient to what God is asking us to do through this text, and I will list a few of them below. As you are seeking to be obedient in evangelism this week, remember the whole point is that it’s not about who you are, it’s about who He is and how He is revealing Himself to you so you can share those truths with others, and remember the self-existent, eternal, all-powerful Sustainer of the world is with you!
This week seek to:
- Pray and ask God that He would give you opportunities this week to encounter those who might be searching for hope.
- While in your workplace or as you are conducting business during your day, seek to discern if there might be someone around you who is searching for hope. If God leads you to this person, be faithful to pray for this person and have gospel conversation with them.
- Pick one person from your social circle and begin to pray that God would give you the opportunity to share the hope that is within you.
PRAYER
Oh, God, we praise You. We exalt You for who You are. You are the great I AM. Thank You for being with us. Thank You for promising to provide all we need for everything You ask us to do. We also pray for Your help in accomplishing all that You’ve called us to do. We thank You that the things You have asked us to do are not ultimately dependent on who we are but on who You are and Your power and Your strength. We praise You and trust in You as the great I AM. In Jesus’ name, amen.
