The Gift of a Name
Name a few people who had a name change: Saul to Paul; Abram to Abraham; Jacob to Israel. This one surprised: Jedidiah.
After David’s confession of his sin with Bathsheba to Nathan the prophet, and after a period of fasting and crying out to God to save his and Bathsheba’s son, when the child died, David got up, bathed, worshipped God, and had some food. And after explaining to his puzzled servants why did what he did, we read about the birth of Solomon. From 2 Samuel 12:
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.
But here’s the thing: David refused and called him “Solomon”. One can’t help but wonder why he did that? And how did that affect Solomon’s life? Would Solomon have lived his life the same way if his name had been Jedidiah? Would he who received the wisdom of God have been as wise? Would he have accomplished the great things he did, or had been as substantial a sinner, if he had lived his life under another name?
Doug’s youth pastor back when he was in youth group had this book of etamology, so Doug and his siblings naturally looked up their names to see what they meant. “Joyce” meant “Rejoice for the Lord is good; “Carla” meant “Warrior– Mighty one of God”; “Crystal” means “purity”; “Ted” means “beloved of God” and “Jane” means “Servant of God”. “Douglas” means “something useless drawn out of a muddy lagoon”. Fortunately, he had a wise youth pastor, who said “that’s awesome”. Sounds like a leader to me. Sounds like Moses to me; like being drawn out of the water. You are the one God can get a hold of. God can bring salvation by taking and USING someone “useless” having been “drawn out of a muddly lagoon.”
So we’re approaching a season of Lent.
If you would, let’s fast as a church family. What would you give up for 40 days? Here are some suggestions: All drinks but water. Chocolate. Smoking. FaceBook. Give up “white” food– like potatoes, bread, rice. Television. Caffiene.
Maybe you have a child you need to fast for, like David. Maybe life just isn’t going so well, because of yours or someone else’s sin, or maybe you need to ask the Lord what you’re supposed to be doing. Maybe you need to give up something permanently. Some kind of healing that needs to take place.