What's in a name?

The first gift you were ever given - was your name. What does your name say about you?

Recently, a friend of mine's daughter gave birth - and for about a week, they could not decide on the name that they wanted to give their beautiful little girl. Now I thought that was just weird, but then I started thinking about it - What is the first thing you do when you introduce yourself? You tell them your name. When you die - your name is synonymous with all your accomplishments. When I say the name Adolph Hitler - what picture is in your head, Or Albert Einstein, how about Ghandi, or Winston Churchill, Billy Graham. Their entire lives are wrapped up in their name. And what are some parents thinking when they name their children names like Benton Dover (Ben Dover) or Timothy Burr (Tim Burr). These are 2 people that I personally know, and wonder how can a parent do that to their child.

Now, I understand that society for some reason dictates what the popular names are - usually based on soap opera characters, or other TV 'reality' actors. Isn't it interesting that when our country turns up their noses to faith in God, yet many of the most popular names are those of people found in the Bible, or some form of it. Different cultures focus on certain names. In the Spanish culture you will find a lot of Jesus', but in the American culture you find that name used very little when nameing children.

So my question is this - do we really think about what we name our children. Many parents study the meaning of the names before they actually name their children. I found it interesting when I looked up the meaning of my name and my siblings names, and found that our personalities are very similar to what our names mean. I would hope that most parents would be willing to think about what they are "subjecting" their children to in the names that they are given.

You know, there is one more true importance in a name. And that has nothing to do with the reception of society here on earth. The Bible talks about in the end when we arrive in heaven, and where we spend eternity is dependent on our name, and whether it is written in the Lambs Book of Life.

Revelation 21:27 (The Message)
Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will get in.

I can only hope that those of you who are having children, or involved in the naming of children - ie grandparents, god parents, aunts, uncles, close friend, etc. - are going to be active in making sure that those children know the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus. You give your children a gift in their name, but make sure that they know about the free gift that Father God gave in His Son, Jesus Christ, so we could have eternal life, because they might leave a name behind here on the earth, but eternity is a long time if your name isn't written down up there.

Just a few thoughts.
Walking with the King, s