When it comes to naming things, some people have a gift and others don’t. I’ve met people who I’ve wanted to call by another name. I don’t know why, except they don’t look like, say, a “Ross” to me.

Some people get creative with names – and others wish they hadn’t – like Frank Zappa’s kid, “Moon Unit” or more recently, Beyonce’s child, “Blue Ivy”. You have to wonder what they were thinking or were on when they named their children!

But it’s not just baby names. Some companies choose weird names for their products, like pretty much anything in an Ikea store. When I ordered a “Billy”, I didn’t know that was a book shelf. But since having “Billy” in my home for years now, we’ve had some good conversations.

New Zealand has a drink that is called “SARS”. I’m not sure I’d like to order one of them. But when the “SARS” virus was breaking out all over the world, sales of the drink went up. People thought it was a cure. After all, the can did say it had a flavour burst.

There are times, though, when there is something about a name that either fits the person or describes the item very well.

Our turtle is named Winston, and if you saw him you would think the name really suits him. It was my daughter who came up with that name and I think she showed lots of creativity. However, that wasn’t always the case with my kids and names.

Karlie had a stuffed animal that she called “Monkey”. Fortunately, it was a stuffed monkey and not a stuffed elephant or giraffe. Mike, well, he really got creative with two teddy bears that he had: one he called “little Ted” and the other one “big Teddy”. At least we never got their names mixed up; there was a noticeable size difference.

Speaking of getting mixed up, there was a time I played hockey with a guy who had two first names. I don’t mean his name was hyphenated, or he went by his middle name instead of his first; I mean his last name was a popular first name – Mike Dale.

I don’t think one can be held responsible for calling someone who has two first names by their last name. It’s easy to get confused. I had been calling for this guy to pass me the puck and was wondering why he wasn’t sliding it over.

Finally, he skated to me and said, “Hey! Stop calling me by my last name. How’d you like me to call you by your last name?” Actually, I didn’t care. The thing was, I thought I HAD been calling him by his first name … and I thought he kind of looked like a Dale instead of a Mike.

A good name helps us identify the person or helps us have a good idea of what the product is or does.

Here’s the thing: God has many names that describe characteristics about Him – Jehovah Rapha (the God who heals) or Jehovah Jireh (the Lord will provide) or Jehovah Shammah (the God who is There). If I keep in mind these descriptive names that identify a quality about Him, I will probably seek Him more quickly when I have a particular need.

That’s Life

Paul

Question: What names for God do you keep in your mind?  Leave your comment below.