Have you ever thought about changing your name? Sean Combs does it on a regular basis. He went from Puff Daddy, to P Diddy, to Diddy. Facebook started out as The Facebook. Before she became "Friends" with everybody Jennifer Aniston was known as Jennifer Anastassakis. It's not a major change, but up until high school everybody called me Robert. I didn't plan on the change. Some friends of mine just started calling me that and it took.
In the Bible names were changed on a regular basis. Abram became Abraham. Saul was a murderous, persecuting, Pharisee before God changed his name to Paul. Peter was one of Jesus 12 disciples. I'm pretty sure it was Jesus who changed his name from Simon to Peter. I have never read anything about the significance of God changing some one's name, but it happened a lot in the Bible. I bet Judas wished that someone would have changed his name after he betrayed Jesus.
Having your name changed is like getting a fresh start. It's a constant reminder that something major has changed. In seminary I was introduced to a lot of students from Korea. One of the students told me that all the Korean students had both a Korean name and an English name. John was the name of choice for most the guys.
I don't know what last week was like for you. There is a great chance that in some aspect of your life you blew it. Maybe you let someone down. Maybe you let yourself down. Maybe it's time to change your name. I blow it on a regular basis. Thank God I'm forgiven. Maybe you are not where you thought you'd be in life. Maybe you lack direction. According to God you are chosen. No matter what your name is if you know Jesus you are Forgiven and you are Chosen. Maybe today it's time to start living like your name is changed.
When talking about this with a couple of friends they quickly called me Kobe. I'm not sure that's the name I'd pick, but he is the greatest basketball player in the world.
Thanks for this post. Words that I needed to hear today. One other thing, I was surprised how much the career stats of Kobe and Chris Dudley are. Almost mirror images. You should look it up and be amazed like I was. So, in my mind Kobe and Chris Dudley are at the same level. They kind of even look alike. Perhaps we should call you Dudley Shepherd? Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteChris Dudley? I looked at his stats they weren't close to Kobe. Are you talking about the Chris Dudley who is now in office?
ReplyDeleteThis was meant to be a joke Kobe! Chris Dudley was a bruising, uncoordinated, gangly, white guy who played about 15 years in the league and averaged about 2 points per game. I tried to select someone who as different as Kobe as possible. Kobe, I apologize for making a bad joke. I will spend more time preparing next time.
ReplyDeleteLove this...so much is in a name...It is the coolest thing in the world to choose the names for your kiddos...Austin-Lee and I love our kids names...but what's even cooler is that in Jesus, we come under HIS name to which all things exist and are sustained...beautiful
ReplyDeleteI'm always interested in the meaning of names. A couple of references indicate Bryant's parents chose the name Koby from a dinner menue--Koby beef. It is also a Japanese town, a pygmy god, and may have roots to several cultures including the Hebrew Jacob, meaning strong one, re-placer. It was most popular in 2001. "A good name is more desirable than riches" Prov. 22:1. Part of our attraction to certain names is no doubt influenced by people we know who have the name.
ReplyDeleteNot "some friends," I'm totally taking credit for this. Kobe, get your facts straight!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing to do when people ask me whether I like "Mike" or "Michael" better is to tell them I don't care, but then get disappointed at whichever one they choose. Keren and my family are pretty much the only ones who call me "Michael" on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteAlthough now that I think about it, "Kobe" calls me "Michael" quite frequently...
By Kobe did you mean Rob or the real Kobe? I'm so confused now that my name is changed.
ReplyDeleteMy bad.
ReplyDeleteOh Daniel it was funny, but since I wasn't familar with Chris Dudley I needed to make sure that is the one you were talking about. Since it is your comment was funny. If there was a different one that I didn't know about it might not be that funny because he'd be one the greatest of all time and I wouldn't know who he was.
ReplyDeleteCourtney can take all the credit!!! She did come up with Kobe BUT if it was not
ReplyDeletefor the baby boy in my belly whose name will be Abram we never would have
been on that topic that wonderful Friday evening!! Just sayin'!! Court gets 1/2 credit and I get 1/2 credit!!!
Very true Alicia.
ReplyDelete