What’s in a name?
Scripture:
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. – Genesis 49:28
Observation
Jacob was literally on his death bed, the father of his children who raised them from birth, loved them and knew them. He was giving the final blessing for each son before he passed. The blessing was according to who they were…a blessing suitable to him. One was a lion, one a ravenous wolf, etc…These blessings were essentially names that describe them…and futures according to those names. I am reminded of us…we have many names that we can live by, names that maybe even once defined us…yet there is a new name by which each of us is called. Be it righteous, faithful, servant, sister, mother, brother, or another name. And the name that we choose to live by is the name that defines our future. If I say I am a loser, my future will reflect that. If I say I am an evangelist my future will reflect that. I will live my life according to the name(s) I truly believe about myself.
Application
I must be careful to live by the names given me by God alone. I am obviously mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend…but there are other names that define me in his eyes. Gifts he has given me, responsibilities given me, and new names that have replaced old ones. I always had issues with the way I looked, I thought I was fat, ugly…but in his eyes I am beautiful, his masterpiece. I thought I wasn’t good enough for much, yet In him I am strong and able to conquer. I’ve lived in fear of the enemy and been defeated, yet I have complete freedom from his power, and have God’s very presence in me and with me to defeat the enemy on any occasion. I’ve been poor, but in God I am rich beyond imagination. I must choose to live my life according to God’s perspective, not my own. I must choose to call myself names that match up with what his word says about me. I must choose to let God determine my future, and not my past. As Paul says so eloquently “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13-14)
Prayer
Father, thank you that you have given me a future and a hope apart from my past. Thank you that my past no longer defines me or my future. Thank you for the new names by which i am called. Thank you for your perspective of my life. May I continue to live by your truths, and not the enemies lies. Thank you father!
