How do you call?

An interesting part in the account of the creation is where God took the animals to Adam for him to name them. The Bible continues, "... and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof" (Genesis 2:19). God, the Creator, who created Adam and everything else, simply left the naming of the animals to Adam. He made no objections to Adam's choice of names. When Adam called the lion a lion, God left it at that, and likewise when Adam called the mouse a mouse, God nodded His agreement.

What do you think would have happened if God had said, "No, that little thing shall be called a lion and that big thing shall be called a mouse." Then we would be calling those little rodents that scare us to death, lions, and the king of the jungle would go by the name mouse. Those names would have completely different definitions from what they now have. I can see some guys flexing their muscles and saying, "I am a mouse."

In the Bible we find that God puts great store by names. Abram means exalted father, but when God got ready to bless him, He changed his name to Abraham. "Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of nations have I made thee" (Genesis 17:5).

Later, God changed the name of Abraham's wife, as she, too, was part of the new covenant He had made with Abraham. "And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be" (17:15).

God did the same thing to Abraham's grandson, Jacob. "... Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed" (32:28).

God's naming is not limited to a mere name change, but a change in character. He called Gideon "mighty man of valour" (Judges 6:12), Mary is saluted as "highly favoured and blessed among women", and He called His Son Emmanuel, meaning "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

Notice that with all these name changes came a transformation in status, function and blessing. Abraham was changed from a childless man to the father of nations, Sarah from a barren woman to the mother of Isaac, the son of promise. Jacob changed from a trickster to Israel, father of the Israelites, God's chosen people. And we can go on and on.

But the message is clear. Instead of calling ourselves broke, depressed, oppressed and discouraged, we need to call ourselves the way God calls us - blessed, made in His image and likeness, "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people" (1 Peter 2:9). If we do that we will never be defeated by the enemy.