The Subway sandwich chain is offering free Subway sandwiches for life to any fan who agrees to legally change their first name to Subway.
Seriously! Interested? Check it out at SubwayNameChange.com.
Name changes don’t just happen. Name changes mean that something is happening.
My youngest son Matthew told us when he was 7 years old that he wanted to change his name to Steve. Don’t ask me why. I don’t think he knew why. Anyway, it never happened. It really didn’t mean that much after all.
Change your name to Subway and things will happen. Such as free subs, perhaps some costly celebrity status and brand new social media profiles.
God changed a bunch of names for people in the Bible. Why? Because it meant something. It indicated a special promise and purpose.
Jacob (“Deceiver”) changed to Israel (“Wrestles with God”). Abram (“Daddy”) changed to Abraham (“Big Daddy”).
Others changed their own name. Ruth’s mother-in-law, experiencing painful loss and loneliness, said, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter” (Ruth 1:20).
Still others like Joseph, Moses, Esther and Daniel all have pseudonyms; some people didn’t know them by those names.
And what’s your name? The God who promises that he calls you by name certainly knows the name by which others know you, and even more intimately. Jesus called out to Lazarus and Peter and Mary Magdalene by their names.
But there’s something more.
To anyone who is lost or lonely, anyone who struggles with identity, anyone who has made a name more for themselves than God, anyone who doesn’t like himself or herself or their name or pronoun, anyone whose married name belongs to a loser of an ex, anyone who has been called names, anyone who hasn’t lived up to the name of the family or team or company, anyone whose name has been dragged through the dirt, anyone whose name is always last …
“You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow” (Isaiah 62:2).
What’s the name? “Delightful.” Read Isaiah 62:4. It’s right there. You are God’s delight, even as someone who sins too much. You are God’s delight. He cares about you. Boasts about you to the angels. Is preparing a palatial paradise for you in heaven.
Because in his grace he has chosen you and given you that name just like parents do. It means so much to you. And to him.
PRAYER: God, I’m amazed that you delight in me, that you give me the name “Delightful.” I have been called names that hurt me, and honestly I haven’t lived up to the name “Delightful.” But I believe your promise, and need your grace. Change me. Make me delightful. And help me tell others your saving name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY: Make a list of 5 names in the Bible that changed, other than the names mentioned in this blog.
