hidden with Christ

Col. 3:3 (NLT)
For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

I remember when the singer, “Prince,” decided to change is name. In 1993 his name became a symbol O(+>. Well, you aren’t going to pronounce that, so he was called “the artist formerly known as Prince.” By the year 2000, he was back to good old “Prince.” This is rock and roll, or funk, or whatever label you would give Prince music (he wouldn’t), so this is not weird. We expect strange things to come from a “strange” world.

I am reminded of this whole name change situation when I think about the words, “your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” Do I really know who I am? In one sense, yes. Born and raised in Racine Wisconsin. Son of Edward and Nancy Hanson. Now, husband of Nancy (don’t get all Freudian on me), and father of Kristina, Gregory, and David. This is good for a start. But, is this who I really am?

I don’t know.

When I connect with Jesus and trust in him, what you see in me is not all there is. The life I am living and the life others are witnessing is not my real life. My whole life. The essence of who I really am is known only to God. Just call me “the disciple formerly known as Dana but hidden with Christ now.”