What’s In A Name

What’s In A Name

What’s In A Name?

What’s in a name? There are several considerations when answering that question. In the Bible we see great significance given to a person’ name. So great, in fact, that God often changed someone’s name to more accurately reflect His purpose and calling of that life. For example, Abram, which means Exalted Father, was renamed Abraham, Father of a Multitude. This was in keeping with God’s sovereign plan to form a nation of blessing from the seed of Abraham that would touch the entire human race.
Each of us has a name with significance. Even in a crowd our ears perk up when we hear our name. It is a vital part of our identity. Our name reveals our relationships as well as our identity. By our name we are known as father, mother, spouse, friend or an almost endless number of relationships. By one name we are known in so many different ways.
How wonderful to know that we are known perfectly by our Creator. The Psalmist said, “You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.” He further exclaims, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.” (From Psalm 139) Such thoughts are expressed in the Gaither song, I Am Loved, which says, “The One who knows me best, loves me most.”
In the New Testament we learn that we are not only known perfectly by our Creator, but personally by our Savior. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, says of His followers, “…the sheep hear His voice and come to Him, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. He walks ahead of them; and they follow Him, for they recognize His voice.” (John 10:3-4) Believers have the blessed assurance that their names are embedded in the heart of God and inscribed in the Book Of Life.

—Terry Morrison