I Am

 Genesis 27:15-24

15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob, 16 and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed the savory food and the bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob. 18 So he went in to his father and said, “My father,” and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands, so he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”

For every sin there is a fork in the road.  The fork in the road appears just before the action.  This fork represents the choice of whether to sin or not to sin; whether to go the godly route or walk down the path of sin.

Jacob’s fork in the road came when his blind father asked him if he was really Esau.   Jacob replied, “I am”.  

We see the phrase “I am” used throughout the Bible (over 300 times).  God and Jesus used the phrase “I am” in order to identify themselves as God.  In fact, we refer to God as the “Great I Am”.

In this scripture, Jacob uses this phrase to identify himself as his brother, Esau.  He uses the “I am” to swindle his brother out of his blessing.  By saying. “I am” he lied to his blind father and became complicit in the plot of Rebekah. 

For Jacob, saying “I am” was a phrase that pinpointed his time of sin; the exact moment when his path diverged from the path of God’s will. 

As we approach our own fork in the road, which road will we take?

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)