Meditation

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.       Isaiah 9:6-7

For Advent, Wesley Chapel Facebook page has been doing a daily Name of Jesus reveal. Some have had meaning for me and some were less personally resonant. It started me thinking about names.

Shakespeare wrote “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”  With all due respect to old Will, I need to disagree. Names matter.

Father can be very negative to a person from an abusive situation. If you call a child stupid or a troublemaker often enough they will become one. If you’ve raised lambs or been to a counselor, your reaction to those words is colored by what you’ve experienced. 

There are many names for Jesus because of who he is for us. If you only know him by Christ or the Lamb, you limit your understanding of the depth of his importance.

What names do you associate with Jesus? Most people would come up with the Lord and probably the Good Shepherd. But we should work deeper than that. Can you find a word of your own that describes an important aspect of Christ for you? Will you open your heart to the power to comprehend, the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ. Spend some time in prayer and see what is revealed.