September 11 -- "His Name Means Everything"

Today's Reading: Ezekiel 20:1-26 

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Do you have a good name? Do you consider your good name and reputation to be important to you? Well, multiply that by infinity and you'll get a glimpse of how much God cares about His good Name! His incredible holiness and desire for a loving relationship with us drive Him to protect His reputation. 

By the way, the reason we capitalize “Name” when referring to God is to show respect and reverence for Him and to differentiate between the general use of "name" and the specific reference to God's sacred Name. In fact, many Jews, when they come across God's name while reading the Old Testament aloud, will pause and substitute it with the words "The Name" out of deep respect and reverence for the holiness and sacredness of God' Name.

So, let’s talk about the Israelites for a minute. Despite experiencing God’s amazing power firsthand, they rebelled against Him and did not honor His Name nor reflect His love and power to the world around them. Imagine the disrespect! God had to step in, not just to discipline them, but also to safeguard His incredible character from being misunderstood by the world.

Why was this so important? Because God is holy and perfect, and His Name (LORD, Yahweh, Jehovah, Adonai) represents who He is. When His chosen people messed up, it put a stain on His beautiful reputation. Plus, God had made a special promise between Himself and the Israelites. Their disobedience was like them breaking a promise with their Heavenly Father - it hurt!

But here’s the amazing thing: God wanted the Israelites to show the world who He is – a loving, gracious, powerful God. Their failure to do this meant He had to step in and remind everyone of His greatness. It was all about protecting His good Name so that people everywhere would know Him as the true and living God. This all comes from a place of love. God doesn’t want anyone to miss out on His incredible love and care. He wants everyone on Earth to turn away from their wrongdoings and experience His amazing grace.  Just like it says in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”  This tells us that He longs for salvation to come to each and every human being. And, that's why He is so careful to protect His name and reputation.

May the sacredness of God's Name dwell deeply within you. As a bearer of His light, may your life shine forth His holiness and truth to a hurting world.