With three girls whose names all start with the C/K sound, I admit I am guilty of calling my children by the wrong name. And yes, we did the C/K thing on purpose... And yes, if we have future children, they will most likely have a C/K name (wouldn't want them to feel left out or anything) But even if they all had names with different letters, I am pretty confident I would still get mixed up. Tell me I'm not the only one!
As I was shaking my head today, after calling my girls by the wrong name yet again, I had this neat thought. God knows my name and your name and everyone's name. All 6 billion names of all 6 billion people on earth. He knows our names because He created each and every person. Not just that, He hand-crafted us, designing us in a special and unique way. He has a specific purpose for each and every one of us. He knows every single detail of our lives, before any of them actually happen. He knows the number of hairs on our heads. He knows our wildest dreams and our darkest fears. So of course He knows our names.
And unlike all earthly parents, He NEVER calls us by the wrong name. He NEVER gets us mixed up or confused with someone else. He ALWAYS knows just who we are and just what we need. He ALWAYS knows our hearts and minds, even when we don't.
Not only does He KNOW our names, but He calls out to us, by name. He invites us to spend time with Him. He welcomes us into His presence and delights when we stay there with Him. As we enter His throne room, He motions to us to come right up to Him. And so with this strange, bold confidence we go. We climb up into His lap. He puts His strong, loving arms around us. We lay our head on His chest, and then we hear Him whisper our name. And then, looking us in the eyes, He says our name again and follows it with, "I love you."
Did you hear Him?
Listen again.
God loves YOU!
John 3:16 is a pretty familiar verse. So much so that we often race over it without stopping to think about the implications for us personally. Today, I want you to slow it down. Put YOUR NAME in the blank and read it again, like you've never read it before...
God so loved ___________ that He gave us His only Son that _____________ can believe in Him and not perish but have everlasting life.
It gets even better. As you believe in Him, God adopts you into His family. 1 John 3:1 tells us, "See how very much the Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!"
Romans 8:14-17 goes on to share this amazing promise for us as God's children: "For all you are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, "Abba, Father." For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory..."
I don't know about you, but that is pretty overwhelming to me.
God loves me.
God has adopted me as His child.
God lets me share in His glory through Christ.
So, I may not be the best mom in the world. I will continue to call my girls by the wrong name, and it will only get worse as we have more children in the future. But every time I make that mistake, I am going to remember that God knows my name, that He KNOWS me, that He LOVES me.
And if I listen closely, I bet I will hear Him calling my name, bidding me come and sit on His lap.
Don't worry though, His lap is big enough for the both of us, for all 6 billion of us...
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