"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Psalms 119:18 (KJV)
A Rose
According to William Shakespeare, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” While that may be true, the name of something brings to mind immediately many characteristics of the thing mentioned. This is also true when the name of a person is mentioned.
Many people in the Bible have certain characteristics or images forever associated with their names. Some of these are positive and some negative. Here are a few of them:
- Jezebel — wickedness
- Ruth — faithfulness
- Judas — betrayer
- David — giant slayer
- Moses— great leader
- Elisha — great follower
- Barnabas — comforter
- Daniel — courageous
- Sarah — submissive
- Cain — murderer
- Samson — great strength
When your own name is mentioned in conversation, what characteristics or images come into the minds of the people in that group? Susie, the encourager; Michael, the late one; Ethel, the giving one; Jerome, the negative one?
What your name represents to others is very important. If you are not content with what your name means to others, today would be a good day to start making some changes.
This article was featured in The Bible View #232.