"Honoring God"

What's in a name? No, seriously...what does your name really say about you? In the Old Testament, people were known by the meaning of their name. For example Abram, in the original tongue, meant "father of many."Abram later changed his name (well, technically God changed his name) to Abraham, meaning "father of many nations." This week, my pastor pointed out that Abraham carried these names when he wasn't even a father yet. Imagine how odd it was to be called "father of many" when he was just a young man. Wouldn't it have been weird, when he was 8 years old, to be called "father of many?" Or when he grew older, and got married--imagine the pressure that must have been on him! Especially he found out that he married a woman who was considered barren. She was told that she would never have children. Of course, we know the rest of the story, that Sara did end up having children...and Abraham DID become a father but not until he was in his 80's. Yeah...80 plus years of bearing that name without children. But God also fulfilled his namesake and made Abraham the father of many nations.

"Father Abraham...had many sons...many sons had father Abraham!" the old song goes.

My name is Timothy. Broken down in Greek, it's Timo Theos...or "honoring God." I don't know if I ever realized the burden that name means til now. I can honestly say that I have not spent much of my life "honoring God." What pressure that is! I'm so glad that we don't use names the way they did in Old Testament days. Imagine me introducing myself as "honoring God." "Hi! My name is Bob. What is your name?" "Honoring God." Man, I'd really have to live it, to be able to say that in public, huh? I take solace however that, in time, God fulfilled Abraham's name. I hope He'll do the same with me. I hope He'll help me get to a place that, when people think of me they think, "honoring God." But I'm so far away from there right now. I now know what Abraham must have thought each time he heard his name. "Honoring God." Wouldn't it be nice to be able to live up to that name? What does your name mean?