A Name Better Than...

Isaiah 56:4-5 For this is what the Lord says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant – to them I will give within My temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off."

A Name Better Than Sons and Daughters

Was it Shakespeare who asked, “What’s in a name?” There’s something about hearing people, especially friends, say your name. It defines you; it sets you apart from others around you. But there are other words that might describe you, too. For me, I’d use words like athletic, loyal, determined, competitive. One word that rarely appears in descriptive lists such as above is daughter. There is no doubt, however, that each of us is someone’s son or daughter. To me falls the privilege of calling myself the daughter of Cliff and Bobbi Acheson.

I can thank only God alone that what He has joined together (in the marriage of my parents), no man has torn apart (Matthew 19:6b).

I love my parents. As far as I know, they have raised all three of us girls by the commands of the Bible. I have tried to follow their godly example. My dad studies the Scriptures daily, a trait that I admire and have tried to mirror—not just because he is doing it, but because I have seen the impact of this discipline in his life. My mom loves serving others. I remember her making meals for families in our church. More recently, she came to visit me and basically cleaned and set up my whole apartment. I can’t imagine loving my parents more, or them loving me more.

How is it possible, then, that my parents are only an example? Not just an example of how I should be when I have kids of my own, or other kids now whose lives I impact (I consider those I baby sit my kids). But my parents are also an example of how my Father in heaven loves me and cares for me. My parents don’t necessarily know everything I do, where I go, or who my friends are. Not because I hide it from then, but because it is hard to communicate all that in just a weekly phone call or infrequent visits. How much more real, then, is it to understand that God knows every sparrow that falls and every hair on my head! (Luke 12:6-7)

And I am His daughter! What a name! And what a responsibility. As much as I represent the Achesons, I represent God infinitely more. How important is it for more me, then, to know and act on the fact that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit! (1 Corinthians 6:19) And how incomprehensible, then, to see that God will give me a name better than daughter. In this world, I cannot imagine a better name.