NO DISRESPECT INTENDED

"I am what I am

And that's all that I am

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man."

It's a great little ditty. "I am what I am" today has become "it is what it is". But while the former may be somewhat self-absorbing, the latter is simply fatalistic. Even though Popeye tries to lessen his importance by his disclaimer "and that's all that I am," he still misses the mark.

The Great I Am is none other than God. He uses those exact words in Exodus 3:14 when Moses asked God's name. You see, Moses needed proof that he had indeed spoken with the God of Israel. Yahweh, a derivative of I Am, gave him 3 signs. Moses' staff turned into a snake and back to a staff again; Moses' hand became leprous when he put his hand in his cloak, but when he it out again it was restored. And to top it off, Moses was to take water from the Nile (if the Egyptians were still in a state of denile) and sprinkle it on the ground where it would turn to blood.

The Great I AM is eternal and unchanging. Popeye and Bluto may be on re-runs for a long, long time--look at I Love Lucy, but they'll never be for eternity. There's only One and as He told Moses, all the generations will know Him as the Great I Am.