A Secret Name

"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I'll give the sacred manna to every conqueror; I'll also give a clear, smooth stone inscribed with your new name, your secret new name." -- Revelation 2:17, The Message

I love that God chooses our name. He whispers it into the ears of our parents and uses whatever method necessary to make sure they heard it. Case in point. My name was to be Paula, a derivative of my father's name, Paul. The name was set. The birth occurred and then something happened. My mom listened to a radio station in the hospital. On that radio station, Pat Boone mentioned his daughter Cheryl Lynn and God must have said, "that's your daughter's name also." And just like that I became Cheryl Lynn.

God has always been about changing names. For example, He changed Abram to Abraham; Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, and Saul to Paul. But He also promises in Revelation to give us a new secret name. The word "secret" used in this passage is the Greek word okeios. It means an intimate knowing. The word “secret” sure turns this verse on its heels. And according to my Matthew Henry Commentary, our new "secret" name is hidden from the rest of the world! The "new name" is Christ's (compare Re 3:12, "I will write upon him My new name"): some new revelation of Himself which shall hereafter be imparted to His people, and which they alone are capable of receiving. This new name is the name of adoption, a term of endearment and intimacy. When the Holy Spirit shows his own work in the believer's soul, this new name and its real importance are understood by Him.

Our names matter. Who we belong to and what is said about us affects our identity. The world has been murmuring names for us far too long. But God wants to rewrite our identities. Let us learn to practice hearing the name God calls us. He whispers it in the secret place of intimacy with Him.

I've been called many names; been labeled and teased; I've even called myself by some of those same names, but God named me Cheryl, "Beloved of Mine" and "Song of Joy!"

What name is God giving you?