What’s in a Name?

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

We were sitting at the supper table looking at a brochure from Benezette, Pa, a.k.a., Elk Country. There were the typical rules, such as, keep your distance from elk, don’t feed elk, and one that mystified Bob: Don’t name elk.

“Who would name the elk?” he asked.

“I don’t know, maybe people who visit regularly. It seems silly to me, too,” I said.

It wasn’t long after our discussion that I got to thinking about that brief conversation. Name the elk…

“And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

“And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; …” Genesis 2:19,20 KJV …..

What a job! Then …

“…God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 NKJV

Then came the governing of the earth and ruling over the creatures. Giving something a name shows ownership of it. We name countries, states, cities, towns, streets; pets, cars, businesses; songs, books, poems, jewelry, perfume …. The list of what we humans name is endless. So then, were visitors not to feed the elk so as not to breed familiarity which could end up inadvertently harming a human? Hmm…

Many parents put a lot of time and consideration into naming their children. I do wonder about some people’s names…. Then I’ve met people whose name I can’t remember to save my life — I just figure their parents got the name wrong. Seriously, think about it. Ever met somebody who’s Susan and Claire seems so much more fitting? I prayed about what to name our children then Bob and I compromised. I liked Bethany, he liked Beth — period — turns out she prefers it, too. He’s the one who came up with Laura which suits her just fine and pleased my grandmother to no end. She had an Aunt Laura that she was very fond of — I didn’t know that beforehand. Rachel sailed through the naming process.

My dad comes from a family of 13 children. He says he didn’t care what he was called as long as he wasn’t called late to dinner.

My mom came after 3 sons: Junior, Joe, John, so she got “J-Barb.”

We have an older friend who named his donkey after his sister. I bet she was flattered.

Rachel’s hackles used to get raised when Mom would accidentally call her after their dog.

I grew up with an unflattering maiden name and hoped marriage would be an improvement. It wasn’t. I basically went from lame to stupid. Our saving grace is that our families are so large, and the names so prevalent, that we don’t get made fun of . . . much.

Now let me wax serious.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me, goes the childhood rhyme.

Tell that to our grown friend whose mother wouldn’t name her; the delivery nurse did.

Try to comfort the young girls who were called “fat” by classmates for no apparent reason.

Explain to the adult man why his dad sandwiched cursing him by God’s name in his full given name during his tender years.

Stupid, ugly, sick, poor, failure, pig, waste, worthless — the list goes on, with the walking wounded trying to come out from beneath the weight of derogatory words. Words do hurt. Words can kill. But they can also give life. I want to inject some life today. (Proverbs 18:2 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”)

People may call us all sorts of names, some flattering, some cruel. The important thing is that we know what God calls us.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.” Isaiah 43:1

Mine.

If we so choose, we belong to Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He calls us His. We can be called by no one higher.

I’m going to go farther by bringing in one of my favorite passages from Dick Mills The Spirit-Filled Believer’s Daily Devotional book.

The Lord called your name,
Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit… Jeremiah 11:16 NKJV

This Mills translates: “He states you are: 1) good looking, 2) thriving, and 3) in great shape!

Doesn’t that bring a measure of comfort to the aging — which is all of us!

Listen, I don’t know your upbringing, I don’t know your past, nor do I know your current situation, but I can almost guarantee everyone present here today has a hurt to hurdle that has to do with words. So my greatest hope is that as you read this today, you know that the Creator of all calls you by name, and not the names of those who have hurt you. You are:

His child and heir. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Roman 8:16-17 NKJV

Chosen. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” 1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

Redeemed. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),” Galatians 3:13 NKJV

Overcomer. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4 NKJV

Loved. “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

Back to our original question: What’s in a name? Everything when the name is Jesus.

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV

So then, if Jesus is in us …

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 NKJV …

…all that matters is what God calls us and what He’s spoken over us.

Dear LORD,

So many of us today are running around with names and words resounding in our ears that are contrary to what You have called us, to what You have said about us. Break bonds off, set us free to be who You have called us to be.

We thank You for being our Savior, Deliverer, Redeemer, Counselor, Father, Friend. There is none like You. We praise You today for doing a work in us. We thank You for being in us, empowering us to overcome. Help our ears and our hearts to hear and receive the names and words that You have for us today. We bless You and Your holy name. Thank You. Amen.