New Name

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here! ~2 Corinthians 5:17

One of my friends sent me an email the other day with a fun little p.s.: the meaning of my last name: 

"Goodman": "a term for the master of a household. In Scotland the term denoted a landowner who held his land not directly from the crown but from a feudal vassal of the king"

This little tidbit got me thinking about 2 things: how often we give ourselves "names" that define us and who should really be naming and defining us.

I don't know about you, but I give myself a lot of names - med student, friend, daughter, singer, baker, runner, sinner, J. crew-wearer and diet-coke drinker - the list is practically endless. Do I always check to make sure the list of names I give myself is the one the Lord has   given me as his new creation? Do I readily define myself as one covered in Jesus's name? Or do I cling to the old names that Christ sacrificed so much to rid me of? Claiming our new name in Christ reminds us of our new identity, freedom, and responsibilities that we have in the Lord. It challenges us to be set apart as Christians in holiness. 

I pray that today we all reach out to claim the new name the Lord has given us!

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
   for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
   her salvation like a blazing torch.
The nations will see your vindication,
   and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
   that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand,
   a royal diadem in the hand of your God. ~ Isaiah 62:1-3