“I AM”
By Donald Hatfield
I AM
I sat there on that bench on that beautiful Saturday morning. I had my Bible in hand and had determined that this time I was going to learn about my Savior and God. I had tried so many times before and made so many promises but always seemed to fail. I wanted to know Him in a more personal. However most of the time when I would open up His word or pray my mind would run off in a thousand different directions. I would soon find myself thinking about other things or staring at a page and having no idea what I had read. So I opened to the Book of Mark and just as my eyes fell on the first word a man sat down on the same bench that I was sitting on. The first thing that went through my mind was why. Why, Lord, when I just started to read did you allow this man to sit down here and just by his presence annoy me. I tried not to look up but he just sat there and I could sense that he was looking at me. I raised my eyes from off the page and looked at him. He was an older man with gray hair. His face showed the signs of age but his dark brown eyes twinkled with a glow. His very person seem to imply kindness and strength.
He spoke and his voice seem to have a timbre of wisdom and knowledge. He said, “I see that you are reading the Book of Life.” I answered and said, “if you mean the Bible, yes. I never thought of it as a Book of Life but I guess that it really is.” Are you enjoying it he ask me? I started to say yes but for some reason I felt compelled to speak the truth to this man. “No, I have to confess that often I do not get much out of it.” He look at me with those soft brown eyes and said, “would you mind if I talked with you a while?” I responded, “What would you like to talk to me about.” He answer came with just two words for he said, “I AM.” Needless to say I was startled and said, “What do you mean by I AM.” He responded and said, “I want to talk to you about the one who wrote the Book of Life that you are trying to understand. I want to introduce you to and tell you a little about the I Am, your God and Creator. “Who are you I ask?” He responded and said, “My friends just call me Gabe.” He then ask me my name and I told him it was Don. I then said, “Okay Gabe, I am listening.”
He then looked at me and ask, “Don what do you think Gods will is for you and your life.” Thoughts began racing through my mind. Thoughts of being a preacher or an evangelist. Thoughts of being a great writer or a successful business man. Thoughts of doing heroic deeds. Thoughts, thoughts and more thoughts. Gabe just sat there looking at me with those questioning eyes. I searched myself over and over and finally came up this unimpressive answer when I said, “I don’t know.” He smiled a smile that seemed to light up the world and in a soft voice said, “Thank you for being honest.” He then said, “Would you like to know.” I was a little offended to have to answer this question that this old man asked me. I know that my answer was said in a cynical way but I responded, “Yes Gabe, if you think that you can tell me then please do so.” He said, “Don, I will tell you by telling you what another wise man said to his son. This wise man who had been through so much and was getting close to death. He had experienced great riches and had held places of great honor in his life. He had also been hated and hunted by men who had tried to take his life. His family turned against him. He rose from obscurity to become King of a nation. Then he lost most of it by a foolish act.” I said, “Who are you talking about Gabe.” Gabe said, “Open the Book of Life that you are trying to understand and turn to 1st Chronicles 28:9. I stumbled through the Old Testament looking for 1st Chronicles and finally went to the Table of Contents before I could get there. Then my eyes fell upon the verse and this is what it said, “And thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy father and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek Him He will be found of thee but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off forever.” I looked up at Gabe and said, “I am not sure I understand.” Gabe then began to speak and said, “That man was David the King whom God had raised up. He was about to crown Solomon his son to be his successor. Instead of telling him all the things he must do and accomplish he simply told Solomon get to know your God, your Creator. Don, you are rushing around this life going here and going there. The Spirit of God that has come into you is urging you to learn and know your redeemer. You have finally come to the place where you can sense that but you are still so concerned with the doing of things instead of just being. Christianity begins with a done not a do. Jesus has done everything that needs to be done. He wants all of us as believers just to get to know Him. I guess you could say that He needs us but does not need anything from us. The more we know Him the more He will do through us. David told Solomon if thou seek Him He will be found of thee.” I interrupted Gabe and said, “That is what I am doing here in this park. I am trying to seek Him.” Gabe smiled and said, “I know that. Why do you think I came? The I Am sent me here to help you to get to know Him a little better.” I again interrupted and said, “Gabe are you saying that God will send someone to everyone who begins to seek Him. He will send a person to tell of Him.” Gabe laughed a gentle laugh and said, “Yes, He will send someone or something in some way. It may not be a person. But I promise you He will send someone as a matter of fact He already has. Remember Don, Christianity begins with a done not a do. Let’s find one more verse in the Book of Life. Turn to the Book of 1st John chapter 2 and verse 27.” I found the verse and began to read these words, “ But the anointing which ye have received of Him abides in you and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and is truth, and is no lie, even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in Him.” I stopped and looked up at Gabe. In a soft voice he said, “Just by reading that verse you have come to know Him a little better haven’t you.” I must admit that I choked up because for the first time I actually realized that He did abide in me and desired that I would get to know Him better. I said to Gabe, “Thank you, if that is the only reason you came along here today it is enough.” Gabe smiled and said “yes that would be enough but since I’m here would you like to talk about the I Am a little more.” I nodded my head and said, “Yes I would.” Gabe said “then let’s get started. “
Gabe then said,” here is how we will do it. I will direct you to a verse in the Word and you will read it. I will then say a few words about that verse. You can also add any thoughts that you might have. Let’s turn back to those words that I spoke when I first got here. Don, turn to Exodus 3 and chapter 14.” After I had gotten to the verse Gabe said, “Read it out loud if you would.” I then began to do so, “and God said unto Moses I AM THAT I AM, and He said, thou shall say unto the children of Israel I AM hath sent me unto you.” I stopped and looked at Gabe. He then began to talk to me. “Don, I know that you are familiar with this story. Moses had been out in the desert and had become a herder of sheep instead of a leader of men. He looked up and saw a burning bush and as he approached it a voice said takeoff you shoes for this is holy ground. The, I Am, is who I want to talk with you about today. We spend a lot of time talking about the people in the Bible but little time talking about the God of the Bible. Those two words describe the God that created us. I AM or I Exist. How small those two words are on paper yet how vast they are in thought. Don, will you take just a moment or two and meditate on those two words? “We both just sat there with the sun shining on us and I began to look around me. As I looked I saw a robin with a worm in its mouth fly to its nest to feed its young. I saw two rabbits chasing each other round and round. I looked up into the tree I was sitting under and to my surprise a squirrel was sitting on a branch staring down at me its tail flapping in rapid beats. I continued to look and my eyes rested on the clouds flowing in an ocean of blue. I could feel a soft breeze on my fac
e as the sun warmed me. Then it struck me. God, the, I AM was before all of this. He created everything for me. He was before all of this which was created and He needed none of it for His existence. I tried in my mind to reach beyond myself to have more of a sense of Him beyond what I could see, hear and feel. I could not. As a matter of fact the awesome wonder of it scared me. Then I looked at Gabe and said, “He is the uncaused cause. That is the only thing that even comes to my mind when I try to imagine Him.” Gabe said, “Don, turn in your Bible to the Book of Revelation Chapter 1 verse 8 and read it out to me.” I turned and began to read, “I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” I looked up at Gabe and he said, “that word beginning means he is the active cause. You hit it on the head when you said He is the uncaused cause. The word ending does not mean the end of something