called by name

CALLED BY NAME

 

How wonderful it is to be called by your personal name in a crowd of people I recently read of a school principle who determined to learn the names of the 600 students in her school. The year before she learned the names of 700 students in a different school she had been principal of that year. Just try to imagine what it would mean to a student to be recognized and addressed by their own name in a crowd of 600 students! In (Luke 19:1-10) Jesus was entering Jericho and a well know tax collector by the name of Zacchaeus, who was a short man, climbed up into a tree to be able to see Jesus as He passed by. When Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was, He called him by name and said "Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today". After Zacchaeus had pledged to return 4 times as much as he had taken falsely from anyone for taxes. Then Jesus responded "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost".

 

Jesus knows us all by name, and calls us to follow Him like He did to His 12 disciples by the Sea of Galilee. Not only does He know us by name, but He knows the plan our Creator had in mind for us before we were born! The Apostle Paul addresses this issue in (Phil 3:10-16), he says he knows he has not yet arrived, but "I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling me. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, God will make it clear to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made". NLT

 

As committed followers of Jesus today, we are members of the Church that Jesus has been in the process of building, as He said He would do as recorded in (Matt 16:18). This true Church is sometimes referred as the "Body of Christ" on earth today. And our main job is to represent the Kingdom of God as "Ambassadors" (2 Col 5:20-21), when you are caused to think you are not important because no one knows your name, just remember Jesus knows your name, and we can know Him as Lord and Savior. That's the most important thing to know for sure!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                             06/12/14