What's in a Name?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

--2 Corinthians 5:17

A few weeks ago, at the school where I teach, the fire alarm went off in the middle of passing periods. Now, for those of you who have forgotten about how school fire drills are done, they are usually scheduled about the same time (within a few days) every month and in the middle of any given class period. At least this is how it’s done on my campus. So to have the ear piercing blasts of the fire alarm begin blaring before students had reported to their assigned classroom, let us veterans of education know that this was not a drill. We managed to get all the students out of the buildings and the wait began. Thankfully, within 20 minutes we were given the all clear to re-enter the building. Later in the day, our principal sent out an email giving us some detail of what had happened. There had been a small fire in the cafeteria; no one was injured and no structural damage was done. Now the next detail I’m a little sketchy on, but somehow, a box of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos caught on fire. No joke! I think that this is absolutely hilarious!!! Don’t you? The best selling snack on our campus was really living up to its name!

But that got me thinking – am I living up to my name? In my case, I certainly hope not. A quick search of Biblical meanings of names reveals that the Hebrew meaning of Bethany is anything to be envious of. It can either mean “house of figs” or even less desirable, “house of misery”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I really do like my name. It’s not all that common, and I like to think that I’m well suited for it. My parents did well in choosing what to call me. However, I really hope that my life is anything but full of misery.

Considering a little bit further, Bethany is the name of the town in which Lazarus lived along with his sisters, Mary and Martha. The story of Lazarus’ resurrection is encouraging when it comes to thinking about living up to one’s name and the above scripture verse reaffirms that the old meaning of my name certainly doesn’t have to define who I am. I am who I am because of Christ alone. And so are you. We are promised that if we firmly believe in the saving grace of Christ that the old way of living no longer has a hold on our identities. Within the Old and New Testaments, people were given new names once they became servants of God: Abram to Abraham, Sarai, to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter.

While is wouldn’t be very convenient to legally change my name to something a little more uplifting, I can certainly visit with my Heavenly Father about who He wants me to be and then be committed to that identity.

And so I encourage you. If you haven’t had a little chat with God lately about the woman that he wants you to become, make it a priority to set aside some time within the next seven days. Ask Him what character qualities he wants to resurrect in you and then sit and be quiet and listen for that still small voice.

Let me know how it goes – I’d love to hear from you!