I AM; The Gift Beyond gifts

There comes a moment in every young person’s spiritual journey when life calls for more than ambition or achievement; it calls for God, deeper than results and louder than applause. When God speaks, He does not merely announce events or seasons, He unveils Himself. And when God introduces Himself, He is not offering a thing, a moment or a breakthrough. He is offering His being. Long before success had a name, Abraham was given God Himself as reward. God did not say I will give you a reward. God said I am your reward. That kind of revelation upends every shallow idea of blessing. What God introduced to Abraham was not prosperity as the world defines it but intimacy as eternity defines it. Many young hearts run after visible outcomes but God calls us back to invisible presence.

This truth confronts a generation trained to boast in titles, trophies and timelines. The prophet spoke in ancient days that the wise should not glory in wisdom nor the mighty in strength nor the rich in riches but rather in knowing God. Heaven’s measure is not what you own; it is what you know. To know God is not secondary, it is the highest attainment of a life. Abraham expected land and descendants but God offered identity. Abraham sought a future but God revealed presence. God said I am your exceeding great reward and that shifts everything a young believer thinks they are supposed to chase. This generation must understand that identity rooted in God lasts while everything else fades.

The name I AM reveals nature not just narrative. God is not a slogan or an idea or a phrase to be memorized. He is self-existent, self-defining eternal being. God does not derive meaning from time validation or outcomes; He simply is. When God tied His name to Abraham’s reward He was saying that what sustains Him can sustain Abraham, what defines Him can define Abraham, and what is eternal in Him can become Abraham’s inheritance. A young person pressured to become something quickly is invited to become someone defined by God Himself. Intimacy does not happen in a moment it unfolds over time, in obedience, in surrender and in seasons of waiting.

Abraham encountered a defining moment when he lifted Isaac onto the altar. He did not merely surrender a son; he surrendered his interpretation of God’s promise. Isaac had become Abraham’s explanation of divine faithfulness. The record tells us that Abraham believed God could raise Isaac from the dead. That faith did not come from human reason; it came from knowing God beyond promises. Even then Abraham only glimpsed a measure of what I AM truly means. What God began revealing in Abraham’s life would not reach fullness until Jesus walked the earth.

In a prayer that opens eternity to human understanding Jesus defined eternal life not as duration or location or escape from judgment. He defined it as knowing God and knowing the Christ whom God sent. This is revolutionary for young lives driven by checklists and timelines. Eternal life begins not when you arrive somewhere later but when you know God now. Jesus did not pray that His followers would receive things. He prayed that they would receive revelation of God Himself. What God hinted to Abraham Jesus revealed in clarity: knowing God is the reward. Intimacy with God is life itself.

This is confirmed in another writing that says the people who know their God will be strong and do exploits. Strength does not come from strategy from influence or popularity. Exploits do not come from superficial confidence or trendiness. They come from knowing God in experience not just in words. That knowledge is not academic. It reshapes identity and mission. Young people who know God are not shaken by failure discouraged by delay or defined by circumstance. They do not depend on systems applause or validation because their reward is God Himself.

The apostle Paul understood this better than most. Though he had education and influence and revelation, he reduced his entire pursuit to one desire: to know God. Not to know about Him. Not to work for Him. But to know Him. Paul understood that maturity is not measured by early success or expanded ministry; it is measured by depth of intimacy. This same revelation planted in Abraham was watered through prophets and fully unveiled in Christ.

When God announces to the Church and especially to young people that He Himself is the exceeding great reward He is not promising instant success, fame or comfort. He is calling a generation back to Himself. He is saying measure faithfulness not by what is received but by how deeply God is known. Many young believers feel discouraged not because God failed them but because they misunderstood what God was offering. Sometimes God withholds things not to delay blessing but to deepen intimacy. Divine love is not absence. It is presence.

What Abraham touched in covenant, what Moses encountered in divine encounter, what Daniel declared in strength and what Paul pursued relentlessly, Jesus defined plainly: God Himself is eternal life. To know Him is to possess life that death cannot destroy. To walk with Him is to carry a reward that time cannot erode. The declaration that God Himself is the exceeding great reward is not poetry. It is life and it is freedom. The invitation for young people today is not to chase success but to draw near to God because when God becomes the reward everything else finds its proper place and nothing eternal is ever lost.

References: Genesis 15:1

The Process