What's in a name?

My oldest daughter is named Sarah. When she was born we already had the name picked out. We went through dozens of names, whole books that showed popularity and meaning. We wanted to steer clear of trendy names, use something much more traditional and choose a name for our daughter that would have great meaning. So we chose the name, Sarah, meaning princess or noble woman. We also liked the fact that it was a Biblical name, it had history, it had meaning. All of our kids are named this way...sort of.

Many, if not most, of the people of the Bible had names that spoke not of their past (named for relatives with family names) rather for what is happening presently or what they would do in the future. It's why many people's names were changed, Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, Hoshea to Joshua, Simon to Cephas, etc. Their new names would be a sign/symbol of what their lives would accomplish. They were names of hope. I wish we would still practice this. It would mean we'd have fewer oddly named people in the world like: Apple, Moonunit, Dweezle, Fifi, Pixie, Peaches, Piper, Coco, Orangejello, Female and the list goes one (these are actual names of people!)

I wondered if Charles Dickens had this idea in mind when he wrote A Christmas Carol and named his title character, Ebenezer and he did. He visited a cemetary in Scotland in 1841 and saw the grave of Ebenezer Scroggie - Meal Man. Ebenezer had been a grain merchant. Mr. Dickens, though, thought it said "Mean Man" and later used this idea for his character. Interestingly, the name Ebenezer was more appropriate than he realized!

In 1 Samuel 7:12 it says, "Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it 'Ebenezer' (Rock of Help), saying, 'This marks the place where God helped us.'" An ebenezer is a reminder, a memorial stone that is very specific of the amazing work of God to rescue, to help, to save. In Dicken's story, that's the role Ebenezer eventually takes on, his life begins to change after a radical dream and an "attitude adjustment." Ebenezer lives up to his name as an agent of God.

So far my daughter has lived up to her name as a noble woman, a princess of Christ, and I'm proud of her. I'm working at living up to my name as well, Chris, a follower of Christ. I know my parents didn't anticipate that I'd do what I am today when they named me. But maybe God had other plans.

What's in a name? Joseph and Mary's son would have been named after Joseph's family, maybe even named Joseph, Jr. but he was named Yeshua as per the Angel's instruction. It means God of Salvation or the One who saves.

We just call him Jesus! (There's something about that name!)

Peace ><>
pc