This blog now has a new address. It is nukelear.me.uk – although there is still a link from the longer WordPress address if you use that.

Pretentious?

Moi?

I decided to make the change because the longer address seemed like a fair amount of effort to type, was perhaps not so memorable, and because the domain name was available very cheaply. It also indicates that it’s a personal page and that I am UK based.

Names are quite important to us. When we were choosing names for our children I remember a great sense of responsibility. These would be the names with which they would go through life: would the name suit them; would they like their name? Some names didn’t make the final cut because we knew other people with those names and it was either (a) too old fashioned; (b) too popular; or (c) we would be thinking of those people too much if we used that name. We also quite fancied having biblical names (but that was not compulsory).

I was fascinated when our children started going to playgroup and school to see what names other parents had chosen for their children. Some names seem to have a long shelf-life while others seem to be a lot more transient.

In Biblical days the choice of names was much more significant. Moses had a son born to him while he was in exile in the desert and he named him ‘Alien’ (Gershom). People’s names carried great significance. They reflected circumstances and events. Simon, Jesus’ impetuous disciple, had his name changed to ‘Peter’ which means ‘Rocky’ because Jesus said he would be the foundation stone for the church. Saul, the arch-persecutor of Christians, used his Roman name ‘Paul’ after his conversion to be a follower of Jesus to show his mission was to all nations.

Jesus, of course, was given the name ‘God saves’. Jesus is the Greek version (via Latin) of Joshua. Mary was told that was the name they had to give her amazing son. It was an extremely common name for a Jewish man, but it took on a new significance in his case. It was absolutely descriptive of who he was and what he was to do.

If you could choose a name for yourself, what would you choose? I don’t mean the sound of the name, but the meaning. Would you choose a name that meant ‘under pressure’? Perhaps you would be ‘smiling on the outside’. Maybe you would be ‘Joyful’. But whatever name you would choose, when you are a follower of Jesus you do have a new name: child of God.

That’s an amazing descriptive name. Just think about it for a moment. God, the Ultimate, the Supreme, the One, calls you his child! And it’s not just a cosmetic name change. It’s a change of status, a new reality!

No wonder Jesus tells us to pray to ‘Our Father in heaven’. Rejoice in your name, realise your true identity. Live it and love it!

Be blessed, be a blessing.