Don’t you just love it when you read a scripture and it just doesn’t make any sense at all. I know some of you are like “Is this girl crazy?”. Just think about it like this. If there were no mysteries to the Bible, then there would be nothing to discover in it. The Bible would be boring if it was completely straightforward. God wants us to not just read the Bible, but to really grasp a deeper meaning. For some reason or another, I have been thinking about a verse in proverbs. “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.”-Proverbs 22:1 This was one of my papa’s favorite verses. All of these years I’ve never really understood what this verse was really saying. I always wondered why it was even my papa’s favorite verse. I guess I wondered why a name was so important and who really decided if that name was good? And then I would think, is it my fault if I am not named a “good” name. All of these questions would go through my mind and continually make me wonder why this verse would even be included in the Bible. So as all of these questions were playing in my mind the other day, the Lord began to reveal to me what it means. This verse was so easily and simply explained in all of few seconds. It was like a light switch had been flipped, scattering the darkness. It just clicked and suddenly made sense. The Lord put it like this, what does your name represent?. And I replied with a slight hesitation, it represents who I am, …? And then He said, exactly!! I felt as though it called for a “Selah” moment; a moment to just let the revelation sink in. So, now read the verse and replace “a good name” with “who I am “. Who I am is to be chosen rather than great riches! Ok, so it still seems a little hazy. Let me explain it like this. Everyday we chose who we are. We are the ones who decide how we act, the words we say, and what we do. We are responsible for ourselves and our actions. The weight of this responsibility is that people are watching us day after day. They are measuring us up against what we believe and what we say we are. The good or bad is not determined by the sound of the name but by the example and content behind the name. This is why it is so important to chose a good name. All the money in the world cannot buy you a great character/witness. It is something that must be earned and worked at. So today, you have a choice, good name or bad name?...Selah
