Skeak Peek: Life Purpose
The Value of Your Name
A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, favour is better than silver and gold. A good name is better than a good ointment - A proverb of King Solomon
Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. - Jesus (to his disciples)
OUR NAMES mysteriously carry prophetic truths, which our shepherd wants to use to press us onto the path he has prepared for us. On that pathway is where we find identity and purpose.
Dear Kristy,
It was an especially proud day for me Honey, when your mom and I stood with you, Kelly and your husbands on December 6, 1998 to dedicate each of your first born sons, Jacob and Alexander, to their shepherd’s love and care. In our church tradition, parents bring their young babies up to the platform at a Sunday service to join me as I bless them. We call it a dedication service and include prayers that God will give the parents wisdom and skill in directing their child’s life journey, as well as a blessing on the spirit, soul and body of their child. It’s really nothing that I do; rather it is an act on the parent’s part which is saying:
Father God, we need your constant help with this huge responsibility that lies before us. We dedicate our baby to your loving, protective and directive care.
I always use the name of the child in my prayer of blessing. Your and Jeremy’s son, Jacob, means heel grabber or supplanter. I prayed that his natural instincts to get ahead would be used by God as persistence and faithfulness in fully accomplishing the purposes that have been sovereignly set before him. In the same way I prayed for Tom and Kelly’s son, Alexander, whose name ominously means defender of mankind. I prayed that he would not only walk in the right path for his own life, but that he would be an influencer and leader of others, helping them stay on that path; and work in partnership with his shepherd to protect those in his care from anything that would sway them from what is right and true.
Of course their other names, Jacob Mackenzie and Alexander Josiah William also carry spiritual weight, as do their last names, Low and Brown. I’ll write more about how our family roots positively and negatively affect our finding and fulfilling the life purpose that each of us has been assigned, in my next letter.
One of our friends wrote and sang a song for Jacob’s and Alex’s dedication, which I’ve written out as a reminder of that significant day. Brian called it Your Spirit:
Today’s the day we celebrate two special little boys:
Give thanks that they are healthy and precious in God’s sight.
Lord I know you are able to supply our every need,
But one look upon these babies is a miracle to me
And I thank you for this gift of life and all they’ll grow to be;
But most of all I pray Lord that Your Spirit,
Oh Lord Your Spirit they will receive.
It won’t be long before these tiny boys grow into men
And Lord I pray you guide them and hold them in your hand.
I know that you are faithful and you’ll surround them with your love,
When trials come upon them they’ll find strength from above;
So Lord I pray you’ll keep them out of any harmful way.
I long to hear these words from them that Your Spirit,
Your Holy Spirit, Oh Lord Your Spirit they have received.
Five months later, after the boys were dedicated, your gorgeous daughter Madeline Audrey was born. I remember so well you and Jeremy bringing her up to me on the platform in August of 2000. She was the hit of the service in her flowing silver dress and matching headband. I was so proud of both of you and Madeline as I held her and prayed that she would grow to be what her names prophetically mean – Madeline means a strong tower, which cannot be taken by enemy forces yet will provide a place of protection and vision; an Audrey means noble strength, the kind that would be expected of a princess or a queen!
A few weeks ago, your third child, Jordan Elijah Low was introduced to the world. We’ll be dedicating baby Jordan in the next couple of months. You and Jeremy know well that his name Jordan like its river namesake means descending. In the bible, the Jordan River was where Jesus, as well as others, was baptized by his cousin John. It was John the Baptist who said of Jesus, “He must increase; I must decrease.” He meant that as I descend and become less self focussed and more God focussed; I am more able to move forward into my destiny in his divine strength. Jesus said it something like this; Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies it does not multiply; when it is planted in the soil then it will accomplish its purpose and ultimately produce a whole crop of fruit.
Elijah is an awesome name for a little boy! It means The Lord is God. As Jordan grows physically, mentally, socially and spiritually, our prayer is that he will know beyond doubt that his Lord is God!
Names affect our entire lives
KRISTY, I DON’T know if you remember Johnny Cash’s hit song called A Boy Named Sue. It was about a tough, gun-slinging cowboy who was bemoaning the fact that his father had named him Sue. At the end of the ballad, the listeners finally understood his father’s somewhat warped intent. He had figured that because it was such a rough world which his baby son had been born into, he would have to learn to fight for his survival. By naming him Sue, the boy’s dad insured that he would have many opportunities to toughen up. Ultimately, the fact that he’d had to fight so much in childhood saved his life in later years. Of course, it’s just intended to be a humorous song, but there actually was an important point to it – our names actually do affect our entire lives.
On a very primary level, one of the name books that I have in my library suggests that your child’s name can influence self-image, popularity with teachers and peers, and even his grade scores. I’m not sure what goes through parent’s minds as they dream up their children’s names. I’ve come across names such as Olive Green, Cigar Stubbs, Lester Chester Hester, Memory Lane, Katz Meow, Ima Hog, I.O. Silver, Peter Rabbit and Seldom Wright. Some names may have been intended to be humorous by the parents, but have actually been more like cruel jokes to their children.
I did read something humorous and maybe significant about names a while ago in Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. The author’s suggestion was that names and occupations are sometimes mysteriously interwoven. Consider these names and occupations:
Cardinal Sin is an Archbishop of Manila, Philippines.
Groaner Digger was an undertaker in Houston.
I.C. Shivers was an iceman.
Justine Tune was a chorister at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey
Lawless and Lynch were attorneys in Jamaica, New York.
Plumber and Leek were plumbers in Norfolk, England.
Mrs. Screech was a singing teacher in Victoria, British Columbia
Dr. McNutt ran a mental hospital
Dr. Paul Looney was a psychiatrist
I’m not sure that those names prove my point that our names are prophetic, but they certainly make you wonder!
Nothing ever happens around here
ABRAHAM LINCOLN stands tall as one of the greatest President’s who ever presided over the United States of America. He was born to illiterate parents in Hodgenville, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. Outside the log cabin in which he was born there is a plaque, which records this conversation:
“Any news down t’ the village, Ezry?”
“Spellman tells me that Bonaparte fellow has captured most of Spain. What’s new out here neighbour?”
“Nuthin, nuthin at all except for a new baby born ta Tom Lincoln. Nuthin ever happens around here!”
That little baby named Abraham Lincoln became a pivotal leader in the United States that we know today. His Emancipation Proclamation prepare the way for the absolution of slavery. His parents and neighbours had no idea that their little boy named Abraham Lincoln would one day grow into his name which means exalted father. They had no understanding of how the prophetic power of his name would lead the way to the preservation of the union of the states.
