When my brother was born he was given the name Richard Burdett. The first name was also my Father’s name, and the second was my mother’s maiden name. While he was growing up he was always called “Burr”, to distinguish him from Dad, but when he left home for college he began to use “Dick.” The plan seemed good to the whole family, and it was followed with each of his sisters except the last. Nancy was to call herself “Nan” when she left home; and I, called “Prudy” as a child, was to become “Prue” as an adult. “Holly” was to be “Hollace”, but Margot, the youngest, had no alternate name. Nancy, who had pretty red hair, didn’t like “Nan”, so she called herself “Rusty”while she was still in school. None of the family or her friends could consistently remember to call her “Rusty,” so she remained “Nancy.” Sometimes I reflected upon the fact that no one else I knew had been given multiple names for different stages in their lives.

In the Bible, naming a child is very important. Hannah named her firstborn son “Samuel”, which means “heard by God” (1Samuel 1:20), and the long lists of genealogies testify to the care taken in preserving names. Jesus’ name was important enough for God to give the Angel Gabriel the child’s name to give to his mother Mary: “You will conceive and bear a son, and you are to call him Jesus”( Luke 1:31)

“Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you what ever you ask in my name. . . In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on our behalf. No, the Father Himself loves you because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God.” (John 16:23,27)

Jesus’ name was the same as Joshua’s, but translated from the Greek instead of the Hebrew. Most important, perhaps, is that the name means “God is Salvation.” It was not an uncommon name for a Hebrew boy, but when Jesus tells the disciples to pray in his name, the name of Jesus became a link to God Himself. “Ask in my name” is a powerful bond, as if God has given the believer an actual key to the Kingdom of God, and that is the very truth, When the Holy Spirit puts the name of Jesus into our minds, And we receive it prayerfully, we are united to God in the love we have for His son.

Names can be quite meaningless, but God has supplied a name that takes us directly to Him. In giving us his name, He is sharing with us His love.

Love in Him,

Prue