He Grew into His Name

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, just suffice it to say that Andrew and Michael were not ever in the mix! I tried to imagine holding a newborn and calling him the names we were contemplating, and realized that is how some people end up with nicknames. Parents don’t think the grown-up name fits so they use cutesy names like Boo-Boo, Bubba, Lil Bugga, well, you get the idea.

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!