Do you like hearing your name called? Do you enjoy it when others want to be with you? Do you want to rid yourself of fear? Would you like to be confident you have been redeemed? Have you read God’s Word and his promises? Have you read your name in Scripture?
We like having our name known by people for good reasons. We like it when they call upon us for something good. Yet, we may have a bit of fear spark inside us when our name is called by someone we do not know. If not fear, we may be skeptical, wondering what the person wants.
To alleviate our fears, we can read our name in Scripture, in the promises God gives his people. How? Replace the name you see with yours. In today’s passage, replace ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ with your name. Just as God created Jacob, he has created you. Just as he formed Jacob into Israel, he is forming you into the new person he desires you to be.
God redeemed Israel, bringing them out of Egypt. He has also redeemed us, bringing us out of the prison of sin into the freedom of worshiping him. We are no longer oppressed by sin. I no longer wear the shackles nor are bound by it. Through Jesus, our chains have been broken, cast aside, and no longer restrict us from truly worshiping God as we were designed to do.
God has called each of us by name. He has brought us into a relationship with him that no one can break nor take away. God has committed himself to us. It is not a short-term commitment nor a flaky commitment. God didn’t call our name on a whim. God’s promises will never be broken. Therefore, we can rest assured that we belong to him now and forever.
I pray we all know that God created us. I pray we trust that God is forming us into the person he wants us to be. I pray each one of us know that God has called us by name into a relationship with him. God created you. God is forming you. God has called you. God is committed to you.
Isaiah 43:1
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
Marty Pressey 