Which Badge Are You Wearing?
I recently went to the local hospital to visit someone who had been in the ICU for a few days. Before I went up to the ICU unit I decided to stop at the front desk and see if the patient had been moved to a room. As I left my truck I grabbed what I thought was my hospital badge identifying me as a chaplain.
I got to the front desk and greeted the lady that I always get information from. I noticed that she looked at me kind of funny. I asked about the patient and she told me that they had no patient by that name in the ICU unit. Once again she kept looking at me in an odd manner. I asked if she knew if the patient had gone to a room or gone home. She advised me that she could not give out that information.
I left with her still staring at me like I had 2 heads. As I arrived at my truck and reached down to remove my ID badge I discovered the source of the curiosity. I had picked up the wrong ID badge before I attempted to enter the hospital. Instead of my hospital-issued chaplain’s ID badge, I had put on an ID badge that I wear when I go to a men’s Bible study called, “The Over The Hill Gang” The next time that I visited the hospital I explained to the kind lady what I had done and complimented her for doing her job. It didn’t matter how many times she had seen me before and how many times she had helped me with information before, when I came without my proper ID badge to her I was like a stranger.
Christian music artist Lauren Daggle has a song that I love called, “Who You Say That I AM”. The message of the song is it doesn’t matter who we say that we are, or even what others say about us and who we are, what is most important is who GOD says that we are. If we are saved then He calls us His children. He identifies us as redeemed, born again, and a part of His family. It is a badge of honor and love that He bestows upon us as His chosen children.
So why would we ever want to take that ID badge of love off and put on one of the world’s badges that identify us as lost, backslidden, and separated from God? Wearing God’s badge of love has great benefits and blessings. So I encourage you every day to live in the light of whom God says that you are. Don’t let the Devil trick you into trying to wear his ID badge because it will end in destruction. Wear God’s ID badge of love with pride and in such a way as to honor the one who gave it to you.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs