I had a December baby. And, like a lot of expecting parents,
we spent many of the months leading up to his birth trying out names. Actually,
for most of those months, we had settled on a boy-name combination that
included the middles names of our fathers. Neither name was weird, and all was
right with the world. (NOTE: we did end up changing one of the names when my
son was born but that doesn’t factor into this story, so I’ll leave that alone
except to say I did practice wifely submission in accepting the new name!)
The process of selecting a name appropriate for someone to
have their WHOLE life really is a big deal. I won’t get into all the names we
had to eliminate with the last name Jackson
Have you ever thought about how this was for Mary and
Joseph? They were told to name their son JESUS, but even without baby books,
they knew what this name meant. How
did they hold a tiny baby and call him JESUS, knowing that it meant Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace,
Savior, and so much more? I try not to think they might have used the
Jewish equivalent of Boo-Boo or Lil Booga. But we do know the end of the story
… and the end of the story is that Jesus grew into his name … he grew to be all
of these things and so much more.
As you celebrate Jesus this season, consider who He is to
you and whether you’ve allowed your childhood perception of Him to grow into
who He truly wants to be in your life today! Merry Christmas!
