SHOULD
OUR LAST NAME BE “GOD”?!
Nancy Bauer, Washington
WE
are God's family. His Son is our Shepherd and WE are to be His flock. God's
reputation, HIS NAME, goes before us, we are known as His people..."the
People of God"....Christians. Have we given God a smile and a burst of
pride in honoring His name? Or have we given His name a bad 'rep'?
In the Old Testament the people of God
were surrounded by idolaters and sin. They worshipped every thing from
the sun to cows. They even sacrificed their kids to their idols...actually
setting the little children in the stone idols arms and watching them burn as
they prayed to a rock.
God's people, who were KNOWN as GOD'S PEOPLE, chosen and placed
into a promised land and set apart from everyone else in how they lived...were
so influenced by the surrounding nations that even God's people sacrifice THEIR
kids to those stone idols. Did they represent God's reputation?
We, today, are ALSO surrounded
by idolaters. Their influence is astounding!
TV, computers, music, entertainment, radio, the mall...all are influences AND
potential "God-rep-rippers".
Commercials on television say we MUST have "this" or
'that' to be happy, and so we buy more 'stuff' while the neighbor next door
waits for some miraculous way to pay the electric bill. WE should be know for
helping that neighbor instead of buying the 'stuff...because helping someone
else in need IS what makes our Father happy...and in turn is what makes US
happy! We are making it know that
being a Christian means we are good and do right...we live under the name of
God! We
reflect HIM!
Ezekiel 36:23 says: "And I will
sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you
have profaned in your midst; and the nations shall know that I am the
Lord," says the Lord God, "when I am hallowed in you before their
eyes."
"WHEN I AM HALLOWED IN YOU BEFORE THEIR EYES"
Do we set the example for God's name? Or do people say of us, "That's
one of those Christians....you can't believe a word they say"? We
are 'set apart' for God. We are His chosen family. The word 'God" and
"Jesus" should make people think of US! For THEY live in US!
So, do we sit beside God's name or live under it? Are WE proof of God?
I'd like to leave this world as an old woman, but known as "God's
little girl.”
Can we strive to be separated from all the influences of the
world...and be known for being "God's kids"? YES WE CAN!
We also have the power of God's very own
Spirit! He gave the Holy Spirit to
His kids! Known as a Christian? You BETCHA'!
And we can be known BY HIS NAME - "GOD"!
Ezekiel 36:36: "Then the nations
that are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the
ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I
will do it."
