What does your name mean? Mine (William) means “determined guardian” or “valiant defender.” Not really sure what that entails. As far as I know, I have never guarded anything in my life (besides some pizza–and I just hide that in my stomach).  Oh well…

In Bible times a name meant a whole lot more. Sure, nowadays some of us say that we are just like the meaning of our name.  But that really doesn’t happen too often.  However, in Bible times, your name either defined you, or came about from some important family event. It’s not like today where you just get whatever name your mom and dad think sounds cute.

In Genesis 17:5 we see God changing Abram’s name to Abraham. Why? Because he was to become the “father of many.” His life was about to be changed radically through the gift of a son, Isaac.

A man name Simon comes to Jesus in John 1:42. As soon as Jesus sees the man, Jesus renames him Peter (or Cephas). This name literally means “rock.”

Why did God rename these men?

God saw them for who they were, and who they were going to be. In man’s eyes, Abram was just an old man, wilting away–but in God’s eyes, he was going to be used to be the father of Israel. What about Peter? Didn’t Jesus know that He was going to call Peter “Satan” and ultimately be rejected by him three times? Yes, He did. But Jesus saw more. He saw a strong leader who was going to become very instrumental in the early church. He saw a man that would speak with such courage that the high court would be shocked his boldness (Acts 4:13).

What about you? God is in the habit of using ordinary people. Abram was just an old dude and his wife Saraih was barren, but God used them to be the parents of His nation. Peter was just a dude who couldn’t stop from being stupid–but God used him to help found His church.

Who are you now? And what could God use you as?

Don’t ever think that God can’t use you.