All Things Lovely

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

"What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

--A.W. Tozer

What comes into your mind when you think about the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Several years ago, I was reading Proverbs, and I came across chapter 30 and verse 5.

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

Quick grammar lesson: of is a preposition, so Lord cannot be the subject of the sentence. Name is the subject of the sentence.

My first thought was, "Wow! What a big God if His NAME is a strong tower!"; then I did some studying and realized this was not true. What is a name? A representation of a person, or, in the Lord's case, a Divine Being. When we think of God's name, we should think of everything He is. If we have a proper concept of God, then we can speak His name and run into the strong tower, not because His name is powerful, but because He is.

But we must first have a proper concept of Who God is. What do you know about God? Do you believe He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent? That He is loving, merciful, and yet a righteous Judge? If you believe He is only loving, you will have no fear of Him, but if you only believe He is a Judge, you will be terrified and never come to Him for forgiveness of sins. There must be a balance.

How do we know Who God is? By reading His Word. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that "we have the mind of Christ." He gave us everything He wants us to know about Him. If we know His Word, we know His mind. Only when we know Him can His name be a strong tower to us.

How well do you know God? How well do you know His Word?