What's With A Name?

A few days ago, a friend of mine brain-stormed with me some possible names for his new business and that started me thinking how important it is to have the right name, not just a good name. I went through this situation three years ago when I started my own company. Granted that two friends gave me suggestions but ultimately I had to make that decision for myself.

Abraham had a name change when he was 99 years old (Genesis 17:5) because the Lord wanted to cause a radical change in his life. The Lord promised him an heir but the son Ishmael whom Hagar bore him was not supposed to be the one and one can imagine how he felt. With the name change, Abram was now to be called Abraham which means 'father of multitude' - a radical change seeing that he did not even have a son or for that matter any children. And I can imagine his wife Sarah calling him, "father of multitude" every time and in the physical he had no children to go by as acknowledgment. It must have been very trying for both of them.

Well, God is One who will always deliver and to the last iota. One year after his name change, Abraham finally became the father of a son through his own beloved wife and the rest, like they say, is now history - the nation of Israel - literally multitudes.

So what am I implying? That the name we use on ourselves and on others will definitely be important. The name we give to our children will directly or indirectly influence their lives whether we like it or not. I recall the reason I gave myself for choosing a name to call myself after I received the Lord into my heart back when I was a teenager was because I was impacted by the brother of the Apostle Peter. In the bible you will only find three references of Andrew (besides his name appearing in the list of Jesus' disciples): -
1. he was the one who introduced his brother Peter to Jesus (John 1:44)
2. he introduced the boy with the five loaves and two fish to Jesus and He fed five thousand men with the gift. (John 6:8)
3. Philip introduced some Greeks to him and he in return pointed them to Jesus at the Feast (John 12:22)

Andrew resolved to be one who will point others to our Lord Jesus and I decided to be like Andrew and hence the choice and I am still resolved in my heart to continue with that.