God’s ID
For as his name is, so is he 1 Samuel 25:25
Name – We live in a world of disconnected labels. What is Aleve or Kleenex or Microsoft? Made up labels disguised as names. There is no intrinsic connection between Tylenol and pain, between Nike and shoes or between Mobil and gasoline. We are inundated with advertising creations. In fact, there is an entire industry for just making up names. But that’s not the way God works.
Names, according to God’s word, are powerful acknowledgments of the intrinsic character of what they represent. This is just as true for God’s name as it is for the names of people and things in the Hebrew language. God’s name, YHWH, represents His intrinsic connection with all that is. God’s name comes from the verb “to be”. It represents Who He really is.
In this verse, Abigail begs David to spare her husband Nabal because his very name reveals that he is a foolish man. Actually, the Hebrew word nabal means an arrogant bore, a fool. Can you imagine naming your child Nabal? Yet here is a man whose name speaks of his true identity. He is what he is called. The same can be said of Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob-Israel and many others. The same, by the way, can be said of you. God’s name for you is a revelation of your true identity. God’s ID is stamped into your character and He has a name that is just right for you.
In a world where there is almost no connection between names and nature, we easily forget how much of who we are depends on how we are named. We forget until someone calls us by a name that is an insult or a racial slur. Then we remember that names have power. What we should have known all along only is disclosed when we are injured by an identity word. We must not forget. Names have incredible power. And the name God gave you and me is a name that speaks volumes about who we are. What is that name? It is the name of Jesus! God sees His Son as your true identity. You have been given a new name; a name that reflects your death and resurrection in Jesus. It is a name worth having. It is the only name worth having.
When someone tramples on my new name, they insult the God Who gave it to me. When someone disparages or protests or ignores or reviles my new name, they insult me and the One Who let me adopt His name. They do not understand their mistake. They cannot insult my Lord without injuring me because I carry His name too. I am no made-up label. I am what my names says – a child of the King.
