A thought by Max Lucado from his book, When God Whispers Your Name (p. 198). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
Do you like your name? If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Max says, “Well, you may not have known it, but God has a new name for you. When you get home (heaven), he won’t call you Alice or Bob or Juan or Geraldo. The name you’ve always heard won’t be the one he uses. When God says he will make all things new, he means it. You will have a new home, a new body, a new life, and you guessed it, a new name.”
Revelation 2:17 in the Bible says, “I will give some of the hidden manna to everyone who wins the victory. I will also give to each one who wins the victory a white stone with a new name written on it. No one knows this new name except the one who receives it”
Max says, “Makes sense. Fathers are fond of giving their children special names. Princess. Tiger. Sweetheart. Bubba. Angel. I have a friend whose father calls her Willy. Her name is Priscilla. Growing up, he teased her by saying Priscilly. That became Silly-willy. Today he calls her Willy. No one else does. Even if they did, no one else could say it the way her dad does.
“Now maybe you didn’t get a special name. Or maybe you’ve devoted much of your life to making a name for yourself.”
Max goes on, “Or maybe you have received special names. Names you never sought. Names of derision and hurt. Names like ‘loser’ or ‘cheat,’ ‘cripple,’ ‘infected,’ or ‘divorced.’ If so, I’m sorry. You know how a name can hurt. But you can also imagine how a name can heal.
“Especially when it comes from the lips of God. Isn’t it incredible to think that God has saved a name just for you? One you don’t even know? We’ve always assumed that the name we got is the name we will keep. Not so.
“Imagine what that implies. Apparently your future is so promising it warrants a new title. The road ahead is so bright a fresh name is needed. Your eternity is so special no common name will do.
“So God has one reserved just for you. There is more to your life than you ever thought. There is more to your story than what you have read. There is more to your song than what you have sung. A good author saves the best for last. A great composer keeps his finest for the finish. And God, the author of life and composer of hope, has done the same for you.
He finishes by saying, “The best is yet to be. And so I urge you, don’t give up. And so I plead, finish the journey. And so I exhort, be there. Be there when God whispers your name.”
I wonder what my name will be? So will you keep at living this Christian life so you can find out what it is? Will you?
Yes, yes!
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