I didn’t have it. Did you? I still don’t have it. I’m guessing you don’t either.
President Barak Obama was the first occupant of the Oval Office allowed to use email. To win that privilege, he had to agree to severely limit the number of people who had his email address. You won’t be surprised to hear that I didn’t get it. I would be surprised to learn that anyone reading this column did. Or the one for President Trump. Or President Biden.
At an Alfalfa Club dinner, an annual black-tie event where Washington’s leaders give humorous speeches, the president joked about how few have the address. “Everyone, look at the person sitting on your left," Obama said. "Now look at the person sitting on your right. None of you have my e-mail address."
Because so few had the address, the New York Times reported that having it became the newest Washington indicator of importance. “It is now the ultimate status symbol in a town obsessed by status.”
Access to the highest office of the land needs to be restricted; I have no complaint.
But it does make me more aware of how amazing it is that I have been given
unlimited access to the highest office in the universe. I can’t e-mail the president, but anywhere, anytime, I can speak directly to God, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, with the full assurance that he will listen.
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God,” the Bible tells us, “That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14).
Now, that’s access! That’s status! We can speak directly to God himself with confidence. Not because we are so important, but because he is so loving and kind.
Are you exercising this awesome privilege?
Some of those on the president’s contact list were hesitant to contact him. According to the Times, several friends and aides said they would send messages to President Obama only when he messaged them first. “Rarely will I bother him for anything serious or non-serious,” said Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer of Illinois and a friend.
We need not hesitate. God encourages us to pray. He wants to hear from us. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).