“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:27
Though my wife and I agonized over the naming of our four children, we certainly did not invest as much significance in the practice as parents did in Jesus’ day. Bible names were weighted with importance, signaling not only the type of person that soul would be, but also signaling to whom you belonged.
The kind of people Jesus has in His family tree are infamous in name and are not the kind whose photos you’d put on your refrigerator. Yet these all make up the family of God, reminding us that His kingdom would be the place where the last in line would be first, where sinners of this world would find refuge, where regardless of their names they would be welcomed.
Know that you can find a new name for yourself in the creation of God’s church as did so many different, unlikely names in the list of God’s family. Your name is precious one, child of God, son or daughter of the King. You are deeply, richly loved by the One who left heaven’s realms to give His life for you. He has come for you and has placed His name upon you.
The kind of people Jesus has in His family tree are infamous in name and are not the kind whose photos you’d put on your refrigerator. Yet these all make up the family of God, reminding us that His kingdom would be the place where the last in line would be first, where sinners of this world would find refuge, where regardless of their names they would be welcomed.
Know that you can find a new name for yourself in the creation of God’s church as did so many different, unlikely names in the list of God’s family. Your name is precious one, child of God, son or daughter of the King. You are deeply, richly loved by the One who left heaven’s realms to give His life for you. He has come for you and has placed His name upon you.
Scripture Focus
Numbers 6:24-27
Insight
“The world has always despised people … with the wrong credentials. …Everything about Jesus opposes that impulse.” (Tim Keller, 2016)
Bible In A Year
- Malachi 1-4
- Proverbs 31
- Revelation 20-22
