A Life-Changing Word
A Life-Changing Word
Genesis 17:4 “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.”
Think of all the things you’ve changed over the years, friend. Maybe you left a life of farming in Tennessee to be nearer your grandkids in California. Or maybe you gave up a life-long career to start a brand new ministry. Or maybe you traded in your Harley Davidson for Dodge Caravan once you started a family. But have you ever gone so far as to change your own birth-name? I doubt it. Our birth-name is the one thing about us that doesn’t wrinkle or atrophy with time, right? In fact, even when the rest of us is buried, it still remains on a tombstone. So when I read here in Genesis 17:4 that God calls Abram ‘Abraham’, it strikes me that God isn’t just speaking a new identity here; He’s speaking into existence a new creation. When He says, “Your name shall be Abraham”, a brand new man is born in that breath.
Christian, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,” so from one re-named, re-born saint to another, live in light of who you truly are today.