Food for Thought: What’s in a Name?

In May of 2018, Johanna Giselhall visited her local tattoo artist in Kyrkhult, Sweden and had him intertwine the names of her two children onto her arm. After the session was over, Johanna realized that "Kevin" had been misspelled "Kelvin" with the permanent ink. She said, "My heart stopped and I thought I was going to faint." Paralyzed by the fact that her ink couldn't be easily altered, she decided to change her son's name to match the tattoo. So at the age of two, Kevin became Kelvin simply because his mom's tattoo had a spelling error. Examiner, 5/31/18, p.20B My own name, in autocorrect, comes out “Radish” instead of Ardith. I’m not planning to change it, even though I do love radishes.

The point is that names matter. When God changed someone’s name, it was to establish a new identity. He changed Abram’s name, meaning "high father," to “Abraham,” meaning "father of a multitude". At the same time, God changed Abraham's wife's name from “Sarai,” meaning “my princess,” to “Sarah,” meaning “mother of nations.” Their son Jacob, became "Israel," meaning “having power with God” after he had wrestled with God, and showed that he could carry out God’s plans. In the New Testament, Jesus changed Simon’s name, meaning "God has heard," to “Peter,” meaning "rock" when He first called him as a disciple. It was Peter who declared that Jesus was, "the Messiah, the Son of the living God." A new name was a way to reveal the divine plan and also to assure each of them that God’s plan would be fulfilled in them.

God wants us to change our names too, from whatever we are known as by our family and friends to what we are called for what we believe––a “Christian.” This is to designate that we are a true child of God and a follower of Christ. Our new identity means that we too are part of God’s plan and that His plans will be fulfilled in us. Some of us were brought up in the church and have always assumed that we could be called “Christian” by the fact that we went to church. But at some point, just like Jacob, Peter and Saul (who became Paul) we have to show God that we are worthy of that identity by making a commitment to do His will, just as each of those Bible figures did. The reward is salvation.

“Because he has set his love on Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known My name.” Psalms 91:14