What's In a Name?

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into this wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

In the Old Testament, we find a group of young men who were carried away by the Babylonians from their home city of Jerusalem. Four of these men were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, all chosen because of their family ties to royalty, their handsome appearance, their keen intellect and their ability to be trained in King Nebuchadnezzar’s army. You may better recognize the last three men as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the men who were thrown into the fiery furnace only to survive by the hands of God.

All four names are derived from the meaning that God was with them. Interestingly enough, the Babylonians renamed them referring to the gods of the Babylonians. Their captives redefined who they were and renamed them according to their many pagan beliefs.

I know that I write a great deal on captivity because I feel that this world offers continuous lures to move from one prison to another. Through many circumstances beyond our control we allow our captivities to both rename and redefine us. In divorce, we may be redefined as bitter or in family relationships we may take on the new name of unforgiving.

We were born and chosen to be sons and daughters of Christ and God never intended on us living in the darkness of our prisons. Just as we desire for our children to live in joy and freedom we understand that they must realize who they are and stay true to themselves. This is the desire of our Father as He reveals to us in His word who we are in Him no matter what our captors tempt us to believe.

When my daughter was living in her world of drugs I allowed the captor to redefine me as a mother who had done things the wrong way. As I battled my own secret spending I renamed myself as shameful and deceitful. These new names are the work of your captors and not your God.

Our Father makes it clear who we are apart from our captivities – we are a people belonging to Him, a royal heir to the eternal King and a chosen family. Our King will lead us out of the darkness of our captivities and the Light will show that our names have not changed.

Our captors can call us what they want but it doesn't change who we are!