Change Your Name

All these Biblical characters have something in common: Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Peter, Paul. They all received new names after they had an encounter with God. 

There is tremendous power associated with a name. A name equals identity and reputation. 

This is why the Bible's collection of universal wisdom, Proverbs, tells us that "a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches (Pr 22.1)." 

What we do, comes from who we are, and the Bible's way of speaking about who we are is our name. So we ask ourselves, is my name one of integrity? Love? Kindness? Mercy? 

When people hear my name do they think of someone who looks out for those who can't look out for themselves? Who gives selflessly? Who is free of judgement? 

Name changes in the Bible were symbolic of the life change spawned by an encounter with God. If we claim to have had an encounter with God, but are not different for the better, maybe it is time for a name change.

Things Change

The Ten Commandments, which are literally the "Ten Words," are a list of laws that epitomize all the other laws in Torah. All of them are fascinating, but the fourth "word" is particularly interesting. 

It includes the charge to set aside one day a week to do no work. God actually told his people to "keep it holy," which means to set it apart, make it different. 

In including this command, God set in place a principle that served to protect the entire world from overdoing it: from overworking, over-producing, and over-consuming. 

The Ten Words appear in two places in the Bible: the first is in Exodus 20, after the Israelites have been delivered out of slavery. The second is in Deuteronomy 5, forty years later, as the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land.

The reason God gives for obeying the "word" is different in the two versions. Exodus tells us to follow the example of God found in the creation poem of Genesis. There God worked for six days creating, and on the seventh he rested. We are to do the same. 

But in Deuteronomy things had changed and so the law was re-contextualized. This time God's saving act in the Exodus is cited as the reason to stop working one day a week. 

God acted in history and people's lives were changed on a personal level, and while the command stayed the same, the reason for following it changed.

This might be how a relationship with God works. At first we are presented with principles that seem abstract, but as God shows up in our lives, the reason for listening to what he has to say changes. It is the relationship that becomes the motivation for change.

A Question For You

A simple yet profound post for today:

I'll let the image speak for itself.