St. Patrick's True Identity
Many people prepare to drink a bunch of green beer and wear "Kiss Me I'm Irish" buttons in the days to come as they celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17th. Interestingly enough, most of the decorations are about luck and pots of gold at the end of rainbows. These ideas are far removed from the reality and actual identity of St. Patrick.
St. Patrick wasn't a snake charmer, leprechaun, a prosperity preacher, or anything even remotely similar to pictures and stories that depict him as such. According to CBN.com (Christian Broadcast Network), St. Patrick's Day was originally to celebrate Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland. CBN also noted that Patrick was born into a Christian family in Britain, but professed to have no interest in religion. Around 400 A.D., he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland on a slave ship at about 16 years of age. He was given the job of tending his master's sheep for about six years. While alone in the fields, he spent much of his time in prayer and fasting. He came to know God personally and felt God was providing a way out of slavery. He fled and eventually made his way back to England only to be drawn by God to become a missionary to the Irish.
A few years later, he returned to where he had been a slave and endured a spiritual battle with the warring pagans of the area who wanted nothing to do with God. The legend of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland is believed to be symbolic of him driving evil from the land, especially since Ireland does not have any native snake species. In 432 A.D., Patrick actually built a church and began baptizing converts to Christianity. According to the CBN online article, "Patrick's ministry lasted 29 years. He baptized over 120,000 Irishmen and planted 300 churches." Isn't that amazing how God used Patrick's kidnapping and slavery to save thousands of souls from eternal death?
What if Patrick had stayed safely and comfortably in Britain, maintaining little belief in "religion" and never being stretched beyond measure? What does that say about our own lives, when trials come and we "beat our breasts and walk away" from Jesus? True discipleship does come at a cost and maybe the gold coins and rainbows are symbolic of the hope (Genesis 9:14-15) we have when we believe in God and the treasures that we lay up in heaven (Matthew 6:20) that are better than gold, even pure gold (Proverbs 8:19).
The Our Daily Bread (ODB) article for March 14, 2019 shares the story of Leah and Rachel from Genesis 29:31-35. Leah wasn't the chosen bride, but was given to her husband, Jacob, as a requirement due to the tradition that the youngest bride, her sister Rachel, could not be married before her oldest sister. Leah was in a loveless marriage and even after giving her husband three male children, he didn't love her anymore than before. Finally, on having her fourth male child, she no longer prayed the child would get her her husband's attention and affection, but rather she said, "This time I will praise the Lord" (Genesis 29:35).
The author of the ODB article, Life Beyond Compare, writes, "We can try to find our significance in many ways and things, but only in Jesus do we find our identity as children of God, co-heirs with Christ, and those who will dwell eternally with our heavenly Father...How does faith in Jesus open the door to your true identity?" St. Patrick's real name, according to Saintpatricksdayparade.com was Maewyn Succat and he took the name Patrick when he became a priest and not only was he not Irish, his parents were said to be Romans living in Britain in charge of the colonies in which he lived. So he was not poor or impoverished either, until he was kidnapped and made a slave.
All this is to say, we may be born with a given identity or nationality, but when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we become new creatures, with new identities and a new homeland, Heaven. Thanks be to God for the changes and hope we have when we turn from our origins and find our true identity in Christ. Our old story doesn't matter anymore, our new destination is the focus of our journey from then on. We seek to join Christ in the ministry of letting others know of the treasures and hope and best of all peace that comes from swapping our current reality for our true identity.
St. Patrick wasn't a snake charmer, leprechaun, a prosperity preacher, or anything even remotely similar to pictures and stories that depict him as such. According to CBN.com (Christian Broadcast Network), St. Patrick's Day was originally to celebrate Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland. CBN also noted that Patrick was born into a Christian family in Britain, but professed to have no interest in religion. Around 400 A.D., he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland on a slave ship at about 16 years of age. He was given the job of tending his master's sheep for about six years. While alone in the fields, he spent much of his time in prayer and fasting. He came to know God personally and felt God was providing a way out of slavery. He fled and eventually made his way back to England only to be drawn by God to become a missionary to the Irish.
A few years later, he returned to where he had been a slave and endured a spiritual battle with the warring pagans of the area who wanted nothing to do with God. The legend of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland is believed to be symbolic of him driving evil from the land, especially since Ireland does not have any native snake species. In 432 A.D., Patrick actually built a church and began baptizing converts to Christianity. According to the CBN online article, "Patrick's ministry lasted 29 years. He baptized over 120,000 Irishmen and planted 300 churches." Isn't that amazing how God used Patrick's kidnapping and slavery to save thousands of souls from eternal death?
What if Patrick had stayed safely and comfortably in Britain, maintaining little belief in "religion" and never being stretched beyond measure? What does that say about our own lives, when trials come and we "beat our breasts and walk away" from Jesus? True discipleship does come at a cost and maybe the gold coins and rainbows are symbolic of the hope (Genesis 9:14-15) we have when we believe in God and the treasures that we lay up in heaven (Matthew 6:20) that are better than gold, even pure gold (Proverbs 8:19).
The Our Daily Bread (ODB) article for March 14, 2019 shares the story of Leah and Rachel from Genesis 29:31-35. Leah wasn't the chosen bride, but was given to her husband, Jacob, as a requirement due to the tradition that the youngest bride, her sister Rachel, could not be married before her oldest sister. Leah was in a loveless marriage and even after giving her husband three male children, he didn't love her anymore than before. Finally, on having her fourth male child, she no longer prayed the child would get her her husband's attention and affection, but rather she said, "This time I will praise the Lord" (Genesis 29:35).
The author of the ODB article, Life Beyond Compare, writes, "We can try to find our significance in many ways and things, but only in Jesus do we find our identity as children of God, co-heirs with Christ, and those who will dwell eternally with our heavenly Father...How does faith in Jesus open the door to your true identity?" St. Patrick's real name, according to Saintpatricksdayparade.com was Maewyn Succat and he took the name Patrick when he became a priest and not only was he not Irish, his parents were said to be Romans living in Britain in charge of the colonies in which he lived. So he was not poor or impoverished either, until he was kidnapped and made a slave.
All this is to say, we may be born with a given identity or nationality, but when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we become new creatures, with new identities and a new homeland, Heaven. Thanks be to God for the changes and hope we have when we turn from our origins and find our true identity in Christ. Our old story doesn't matter anymore, our new destination is the focus of our journey from then on. We seek to join Christ in the ministry of letting others know of the treasures and hope and best of all peace that comes from swapping our current reality for our true identity.
A shamrock plant from my yard. Shamrocks are another icon of St. Patrick's Day, but apparently he did not use it as a symbol to teach the Trinity, although tradition in Ireland used the shamrock as a symbol of the cross.
I love this and plan to post it on the 17th!!!
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