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GOD KNOWS YOUR NAME

Do you ever have problems remembering names? Many say, "I remember their face but not their name." Our Almighty Father in heaven never forgets your name. "The LORD answers, `Can a woman forget the baby she nurses? Can she feel no kindness for the child to which she gave birth? Even if she could forget her children, I will not forget you. See, I have written your name on my hand. Jerusalem, I always think about your walls" (Isaiah 49:15-16).

The historical background was Isaiah's comfort to the Jewish exiles in Babylonian captivity. Far away from home, they wondered if God had forgotten them. Does God still care? Yes, Isaiah proclaims! A human mother surely remembers her infant child, yet great than this is God's concern for His people. The 70 year Babylonian captivity was ordained to purify the Jews from idolatry and to allow the land of Israel to enjoy its Sabbaths rest that the Jews failed to observe (Jer 25:11-12, 50:20; Ezek 6:9, 2 Chron 36:20-21; Lev 26:33-36).

God's delays are not His denials. We have to patiently trust God's timetable, not our own, and wait on Him to fulfill His own good purpose in His own good time. Have you ever written something urgent on your hand to make sure you don't forget? God has written your name on His hand (metaphor for His active involvement in the world). He will not forget you! So, if you are a true child of God by obedient faith, God knows your name!

You are not an afterthought in the world. You were created with a divine purpose in this world. You are at the center of God's loving concern. He remembers and cares for you! How comforting is Isaiah's message to God's captive people: "Comfort, oh, comfort my people" (Isa 40:1).

Do You Know God's Name?

For God to know your name in a tender, loving, saved relationship, you must come to know Him by name. "The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble; and those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You" (Psa 9:10-11).

There is salvation only in the name (person) of Jesus (Acts 4:12). Have you been baptized in the name (by the authority of His person) Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5)? Has God enrolled your name in the book of Life? Why not obey the gospel today?

Do you sincerely strive by faith to "do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God" (Col 3:17, cf. 1 Cor 5:4, 2 Thess 3:6). This is faithfully and respectfully staying within only what the Lord has authorized in His word. "We believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us" (1 Jn 3:23). If God knows our name, we can always take refuge in His name (Prov 18:10).

Does God know your name?

By W. Frank Walton