The Lighthouse Devotional (Oct 31–Nov 6, 2021)
Author: A WLCN Contributor
“God’s Name”
SCRIPTURE VERSE
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (1 Chr 7:14 NIV).
PERSONAL REFLECTION
Our family names are important. These are the names that characterize the members of entire families, and by which they become known in their communities—i.e., neighborhood, school, church, and beyond. Family names follow us everywhere, embodying our roots as well as what we hope will be our legacy.
SCRIPTURAL REFLECTION
In today’s text, God refers to “[His] people, who are called by [His] name.” In the Bible, a name identifies a person and expresses his/her essential nature; so, to know a person’s name is to know that person (Ps. 9:10). Throughout the Semitic world, a person’s name conveys authority even when he/she is absent, and to speak or act in another’s name is to participate in that person’s authority (1 Sam. 17:45; 25:9). Therefore, we “who are called by [God’s] name” are children of God (John 1:12; Rom 8:16–17) who must act in accordance with God’s will (1 John 3:10). As children, God confers to us a new status (cf. Gen 32:28), from death to life (Rom 6:2–7). We have a new Lord in Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:2) and we bear his name (Acts 11:26; Rev 14:1).
EXHORTATION
Let us, therefore, live with the understanding that we, “who are called by [God’s] name” belong to God, whom we must seek sincerely, if He is to hear us and heal our land.
PRAYER
Father, help us to reckon with the profound reality that to bear Your name is: (i) to share in Your identity; and (ii) to seek to be “complete,” as You, heavenly Father, are “complete” (Matt 5:48).