Identity theft..... is IMPOSSIBLE!

(Sunday): There is a TV set up in the living room.  At first, it was nice (the old TV had stopped receiving channels and could only be used for game-playing).  TV could be watched in the house again, not only in Jeff's nicely-set-up but very cold man-cave above the garage. Football games could be watched  (the TV was brought in for the Thanksgiving Day game--Detroit lost...really no need to point that out, I guess, except that they had a chance this time around.).  Movies on TV could be viewed.  America's Funniest Videos and Survivor could be watched.  But now we're being sucked back into the bad habit of watching for the sake of watching, wasting time, turning on the TV to see what is in store to take our minds away from what needs to be done, not accomplishing things here that need doing. We were watching TV last week, and my stress level was going up.   A certain low-budget channel kept airing ads for preventing identity theft.  They are ads that play to your fears--anyone could have their identity stolen, at any time, in any way.....you could be next!  BEWARE.....Beware.....beware.....! After suspecting that a farm insurance lady who came to the house months ago had gotten too much information from me (and had been on my computer when I left the room!!!), this is a scary topic for me.  I had willingly given more information than was prudent, because I am too trusting.  She may have been totally honest herself, but when I lay awake one night going over all the info that I'd given without thinking twice, I started feeling panicky.  (To date, nothing has gone wrong, suffice it to say). The ads warned:  Stolen identity.....wiped out bank accounts.....problems getting a loan......maxed out credit cards......theft and dishonesty in the grandest sense of the terms....all threats that were meant to scare you into getting protection from "losing" your identity to an identity thief. Then, a program on the radio in the barn a few days later about the same thing, but from a more down-to-earth point of view (less scare tactics, more common sense.) And today, it all falls into place in a much less stressful way. The sermon was "Identity Means Everything".  The reading was Luke 3:15-22:  The Jews were wondering if John the Baptist might be the Messiah they'd been waiting for.   In verse 21:  Jesus was baptized with the rest of the people, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove, and the voice from heaven said specifically "You are my Son."  Jesus was directly identified as God's Son, and God told Jesus that he was pleased with him. Our identity was spoken about as well in the sermon, based on the verse that John spoke:  "(Jesus) will gather the wheat into his barn.....the chaff will be burned."   (paraphrased)  Wheat is valuable. "Chaff" is the byproduct of harvesting wheat: the hulls, the stuff that blows away and does not have substance and is not valuable for replanting or for food production or anything else (except for the compost pile or the bonfire!)  Are we the wheat or the chaff?  Are we productive for the kingdom of God or are we wasting time and not accomplishing anything of value?  Those questions were asked by Pastor Warren in the course of the sermon. And the Old Testament reading pulled it all together for me and gave me a sense of incredible peace after a week of sub-conscious stress.  This is one more sign of God's timing and plan, because the Isaiah passage was included in the earlier services this past weekend, but was not read "officially" in the contemporary service until the end, when Pastor Warren read it, almost as an afterthought as the sermon was coming to a close:  Isaiah 43:1-7  "This is what the Lord says.....:  'Fear not, for I have redeemed you;  I have called you by name; you are mine'......" Well, there's our true identity.  Not social security numbers, or bank accounts, or passwords on the internet, or phone numbers, or the "casual information given to the wrong person" (words from the scare-tactic TV ads). No-one can steal our identity.  Worst case scenarios (from the ads!):  Your life savings might be wiped out, or you might be denied the loan that you applied for, or you may have someone else in the world trying to use your social security number/passport/credit cards. Potential worst-case scenario for us right now:  Farm insurance lady gets too much information from trusting woman and uses it for ill-gotten gain..... However, if God created us and calls each of us by name, what identity really matters other than that?!!!    No damage that might be done by someone who has unrightful possession of my earthly identity information can affect the identity given to me by God!   God created ME and calls ME by name.  My true identity is secure.  And with that, an incredible sense of peace settles in. Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/