I heard a story set in the Antebellum era where a slave buyer asked a slave owner why he won’t sell a particular slave despite lucrative offers that kept coming at him. The slave owner lit a tobacco pipe and said, you see that slave?, his Father is a Chief back in his homeland of Africa. He knows he is a prince and he carries himself like a prince. He does not get drunk, get into cheap fights or lazy around. He keeps his head high, leads the entire plantation and acts with decorum because he knows who he is. I will not sell him, no. This story illustrates how we would act if only we knew that our Father is the King of Kings. If only we know who we are.
In the Bible, the Jews sent priests and Levites to inquire from John the Baptist, as to who he was. They asked him “What sayest thou of thyself?” Without hesitation, without skipping a beat, John replied:
…I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias – John 1:22
John knew exactly who he was. There was no doubt in his mind what his mission was. He did not overstep his boundaries and he did not live below his potential. He was all that God had called him to be because he knew who he was. How can a Cat function as a Cat without knowing it is a Cat? I heard a friend once say: “Ignorance is what makes the Mouse chase the Cat. The Cat does not know it is a Cat and is supposed to be the one chasing the Mouse. Similarly, the Mouse does not realize it is a mouse and is to be chased by the Cat. Many of our modern woes can be linked to this. Men do not know they are Men, and many times Women do not know they are Women. And they act out abominations because of this ignorance of who they are.
Let me ask, Do you really know yourself? If we know we are sons/ daughters of the king, then why do we act contrary? If you know you are highly valued by God who sent His son to die for you, then why are you devaluing yourself by settling for less? Just like the biblical prodigal son, it is time for us to come to our senses, to come into our own and realize that we are children of the Most High. In the second installment of this series (part 2) , I will offer you practical ways to begin to know yourself better.
