What's In A Name

No longer shall your name be called Abram,

but your name shall be Abraham;

for I will make you the father

of a multitude of nations.

Genesis 17:5

In Revelation 2:17, God tells us that he who overcomes will be given a white stone and a new name written on the stone; a new name that is not connected to the sins of my youth or the wrong choices I have made. I can’t wait to get that name.

Abram, because of God’s call on him, is now Abraham. Abraham means, “father of a multitude.” Abram was a man with no son, no descendants, until he met God, and now he becomes father of not only one nation, but a multitude of nations.

God will establish His covenant with Abraham, and it will be an everlasting covenant. The sign of this covenant will be circumcision. Every male at the age of eight days old, or any servant brought into the house, or any foreigner that lives among Abraham and his descendants was to be circumcised. God then tells Abraham that He is also changing Sarai’s name to Sarah, which means “princess,” and that from her will come kings of people.

At this point Abraham has Ishmael, but it is not through Hagar and Ishmael that God will establish His covenant. Abraham will have many descendants, but there will only be one seed, and that seed will be passed to and through Isaac.

Abraham then falls on his face and laughs, amazed that God is going to bless him and Sarah with a child. God will establish His covenant through Isaac, the son that Sarah will bear to Abraham. The Abrahamic Covenant was based on a promise, and it would be carried through the child of a promise.

When God finished talking with Abraham, he had all the males in his household circumcised. That very same day, Abraham was obedient to God. He did not put it off until a more convenient time; there was no delayed obedience with Abraham.

Abraham was a man who grew in his faith as he walked with God. He had experienced the consequences of less-than-complete obedience, and he learned from his mistakes. Can you look back on your walk with Christ and see growth? Have you grown stronger in your faith?

Oh Father,

Everything about You has to do with new life. You are the Author and Creator of life. In You all things have their existence. How amazing You are! Father, how I long for the day I get my new name. Oh Father, that I would be one who overcomes. Through You,  Abraham and Sarah overcame their age to conceive and bear a son. Through You, they overcame fears and disbelief to be obedient and to walk by faith. My Jesus, through and in You, I too have the power to overcome my fears and disbelief to be obedient and to walk by faith. I pray that I grow in my faith. I pray that every trial, every test, every failure, and even every victory, all work together that I may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2–4). Oh Father, that I would become a follower of Christ that demonstrates immediate obedience to Your Word.

My Jesus, it is in your name I pray,

Amen.