A Life in Exile

I have a confession to make: I am horrible at remembering names. It’s a very frustrating fault, and I have faked my way through countless conversations with people I knew by their faces but not by their names. I often wondered at those who remembered and said my name while I could not pull up their name for the life of me! When my husband and I served overseas, I got into the habit of keeping a small notebook. After visits, I would run to the book and write down the names of the people we met and anything they said about their life, work, or children. Otherwise, I’d see them months later and have no clue who they were! I blame that on having too many people in our lives, but then that would be wrong.

Even now, I have printed out the layout of my condominium complex to write the names of the people with their corresponding homes. I’m miserable, but if I don’t write it down, I can’t remember it. So, there—you know it all!

God wants us to remember his name.

I had that messy preamble to our subject today, because I know that while I can claim to remember God’s Name, I often don’t remember the difference that Name should make in my life. I don’t hold it up in high regard or revere it as I should. I treat God’s Name like any other name, and in doing so, I fail to honor him or trust him or live for him in the way that gives him glory.

Before I go further, let me share with you the passage that brings this point home. It’s from God himself, so we should pay attention.

God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.” (Exodus 3:14-15 CSB, emphasis added)

God would not just be any god. He had a name, and it conveyed the essence of who he is. I AM WHO I AM. I AM is a continual presence, never created, always being, and always will be. God wanted his people, who had been separated from their heritage and land for over four hundred years, to know that he was the same God of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was not a different god, but the Eternal God. The God the patriarchs worshipped would be the same God they would worship and serve.

Not only does his Name convey his eternal being, but it is also his Name for eternity. It does not change. He is I AM from the beginning, and he will be I AM for eternity. His Name also reveals that he remains when generations come and go.

How we remember God.

As he gives Moses his Name, God tells him that he is to be remembered as I AM in every generation. Not only would Moses tell the Hebrews coming out of Egypt the name of their God, but they in turn would tell their children and grandchildren the Name. While they were in the wilderness, God would reveal more about his character and nature to the Israelites, but his Name I AM, or what we would come to know as YHWH, is the ultimate revelation of the God of the Universe.

We are to remember YHWH as Eternal, Immutable, Absolute, Incomprehensible, Unique, and Unequalled. There is no god but God, the Great I AM.

In remembering the Name, we not only put God in his proper place but also keep ourselves in proper perspective as well. He alone is Lord of All—we are but dust, sinners, saved by grace.

Recalling the Name.

What does it take for you to remember names? What will it take for you to remember the Name of God? For some, I know they write God’s Name in their home, on doorposts or walls. Repetition is a good way to remember a name, and if we tend to forget the reality of who God is, maybe we need to heed the words of the psalmist.

Lord, I remember your name in the night, and I obey your instruction. (Psalm 119:55)

Do you say the Name of God or call on his Name when you go to bed or when you rise up? How are we using God’s name in our conversations? Does it bring him honor or shame?

To know and honor the Name of God is to live in confident hope of all that comes with it. I AM has a plan for my life; he knows the beginning from the end. He holds my eternity in his hands. He created me and knows my inmost thoughts. He is my All in All. To breathe in and out the word YHWH is to remember that in him we have life and breath. He is the source of life and the Savior of my soul.

His is the only name worth remembering.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Friday Focus post, click HERE, or start from the Beginning.