Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “whom are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I am he…for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my name.”

John 18: 4-6a, 37

As my Lenten season jumps from the desert to the garden, Jesus’ boldness in declaring, “I am he,” pierces my soul. In this very moment, when he could run away in fear and self-preservation, he knew who and what he was about. In the desert he wrestled with and discovered his unity with God, reconciling his testimony to the truth with the mission that was expected of him by those who did not yet understand the presence of the kingdom of God. From the desert to the garden, when the moment of choice came, he couldn’t not be who God called him to be.

How often do I run away from declaring, “I am she” who loves the Lord, for the sake of my self-preservation? How often do I choose to protect my life of pride, my possessions, over living in unity with mercy and truth?

Let my selfish ambitions die that the full awareness of God’s love may flow throughout my life so that I can’t not declare, “I am she.” One day at a time.

(c) 2015 Amy Moore