Who Are You?

There is a very interesting habit that God has in scripture.  Often, when He encounters an individual, He ends up changing his or her name.  This happens twice in Genesis 17.  In verse 5, The Lord says, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”  Again, in verse 15, “And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.”  There are at least a couple more occurrences of this in Scripture.  God changes Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:28) and changes Simon’s name to Peter (Matthew 16:18).

Each of these name changes come in the context of an individual having a life changing encounter with the living God.  Their new name represents who they are NOW.  This leaves us to draw one conclusion:  an encounter with the living God is a life changing, character changing event.  Anyone who has come face to face with the living God can never be the same again.

Do not be mistaken, if you have come to the point of surrendering your life to Christ you have had such an encounter.  You are not the person you once were.  Scripture tells us all of the old is gone and all things are new (2 Cor. 5:17).  Allow God to continue the process of shaping you into His likeness.  Do not allow Satan to tell you that you are the same person you always were.  In Christ, we are a new creation.  Just as God had appointed each of the previously mentioned individuals for something unique, so too does He have a unique call on your life.  Do not consider yourself disqualified when Christ Himself has qualified you.