WHAT'S YOUR NAME?

When my dear friend found out that she was pregnant, she quickly ran out and purchased a book of baby names and their meanings.   A long time ago, names given to children were not only to identify who they were, but also who they were to become.  A name wasn't given because it sounded cute.  A name was given to bless and speak to the child’s destiny.  As years have gone by, babies are now being named after favorite family members, celebrities, or given a name with more syllables than necessary.    These days, names have been lost and labels have taken its place.  For example: hopeless, failure, pathetic.  The sad thing is, some of these aren't even labels given to us.  They are labels we've put on ourselves. 

I remember working in a fast paced environment that was very competitive.   It wasn't uncommon for people to be called “loser” or “vulture” depending upon their sales performance.   After some time, their personalities became exactly like the label put on them.  What label has been put on you that you’re living up to…Or living down to? 

I remember in the Bible when Rachel and Jacob were about to have their second child.   The labor was very rough on Rachel and she knew she slowly was dying giving birth to her son.  Genesis 35:16 says,

 With her last breath, for she was dying now, she named him Ben-oni (Son of My Pain), but his father named him Ben-jamin (Son of Good Fortune).

While his mother named him out of anger and distress, his father named him and blessed him with good fortune.  How awesome is that!

I don’t know about you, but I am sick of labels being put on people.  Sometimes even in everyday conversation, we can be tagged with a label.  “You’re so stupid!”  “You’re crazy!”  “You’re ridiculous!”  Here’s a thought, why don’t we take a lesson from the Bible and instead of pinning the labels on ourselves, we go with what our Father calls us. He calls us:

So tell me, what is your name?  Who do you say you are?

Mending Maria