POW-MIA: The white stitching of these 6 letters is sewn on the bill of my black hat. The purpose and design of hats like these is to call us to duty, and that duty is to not forget and to always remember the sacrifice of those who served.

When I came home from work last night, I laid my hat aside and sat down in my chair. A little later I glanced at my hat, and my attention was focused on two vowels and the letter “M.”

The letters spell MIA (Missing In Action), and when I spin them around and rearrange them, they form a declaration and a question:

• I am!
• Am I?

As I think about this declaration and the question, I contemplate a conversation in Isaiah chapter six: “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?” Isaiah responded: “Here I am. Send me!”

I get the idea that up to this point in his life, Isaiah was MIA. The item of importance is not so much what Isaiah was or was not, but whether I am or am not.

Can I make a declaration or must I ask a question?

• I am serving the Lord!
• Am I serving the Lord?

This declaration and question was at the heart of what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 9:35-37: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Is your place in the harvest a declaration or a question?
• I am praying earnestly for more people to join hands and work in the harvest.
• I am actively at work in the harvest.
• Am I earnestly and actively using my gifts and abilities for God’s glory?

MIA: I am! or Am I? Two vowels and the letter “M”—How do they define your life?