6. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.” John14:6f

There are two main principles in this I AM saying. The I AM is the way, the truth and the life which bring us to know the Father of the I AM.

“I am the way”, the word ‘way’ in the Greek is ‘odos’, it means the natural way and metaphorically it is a course of conduct and way of thinking. A ‘way’ always has a destination and this time the destination is the Father. Not the father Abraham that the Jews spoke of at the time of Christ but God the Father, the originator of the I AM. How can we find this way and then know this Father?

In these words, “the way, the truth and the life” we meet the elements of our own soul; our ability to use our will, our ability to think and the nature of our feeling. We also find the Trinity entwined in these; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The ‘way’ is the Father and requires the will; the ‘truth’ is Christ the Son which requires thinking; and the Holy Spirit is the ‘life’-giving spirit that is felt. Willing, thinking and feeling are the tools which the I AM uses to spiritualise that which has become too earthly, too physical and too instinctual.

We cannot know how the I AM is the way, the truth and the life until we experience exactly how the I AM changes the way we use our will, influences the way we think and how it guides are feelings along different paths. These three human faculties are carried out in our soul so automatically that we barely notice. If we could slow them down a bit, which isn’t always practical of course, we would realise just how automatic all our responses are.
There are many good exercises to assist us with this awareness. Take feeling for instance, each time we are about to say, “I don’t like that” we could pause and see if we could find something to like about it. Or each time we think a regular thought, for example if we hope we get a parking space right outside our destination, we could think how beneficial a walk might be. It is in these simple moments in our life that we can become aware of alternatives to our habits.

Then, as our soul becomes more pliable and more receptive our I AM can influence us more and more. This however is not always a pleasant experience because when we are faced with a challenge, which our I AM wants, and even engineers; we gravitate back to our comforting old habits. This causes a crisis in our soul and a great deal more discomfort than we experienced at first.

The I AM is the way to freedom but only when we realise that freedom must be self-won. When we are able to accept the experiences that come our way and deal with them differently we will know the Father who is the source of this I AM. That will give us the most comfort of all.

These posts are a quick view of the I AM sayings,  the ebook is always free, or you can buy a paperback copy from Amazon