Names

Greet my dear friend Epaenetus, who is the first convert to Christ in Asia. Romans 16:5b

What a good record! First convert and friend of Apostle Paul. We might remember our first friend, we might remember our first convert but to have both in one, that is good.

Epaenetus means well loved and worthy. I wonder, did the act of Paul writing this about the man create the meaning, or was the meaning there before they met? I suspect the meaning came afterwards.

We give people names, these names have meaning. Some are fond nick names, some are not tender nick names and some are in between nick names. I have a nick name for my daughter, Min. My daughter told me there was once someone who heard about the nick name and called her by that name, she was furious, she told the man, "that is my mother's nick name for me and you do not have the liberty to call me by it!"

Each of us is given a name by God. It is His gift to us and it is tender between us. That name means something to God. Others do not have the same relationship with us and therefore do not have the same right to use it.

Some people use the name of the Lord in vain. They choose to defame it in their use, assuming authority over it. They have no place to do that. There is only one God, and they are not He. We cannot defend the Lord like He deserves but we can refuse to listen to the defamation. We can choose to honour instead. Amen!

Names are important to God and therefore we need to value them as well. My son and his wife chose names for their children that had deep significance. They wanted to call their children and know the meaning of the names were being imparted to them.

Remember to honour a person's name, and to honour our own name, but most importantly honour the name of the Lord. Amen!