Printed Name Tags
The tags held no magical powers, but they saved us a great deal of money
Reference: v.5 Some will say, ‘I belong to the Lord ’;
others will call themselves by the name of Jacob;
still others will write on their hand, ‘The Lord ’s,’
and will take the name Israel. (TNIV Bible)
Explore: When I attended boarding school we all had to use a communal laundry and washing line. If you think you lose socks in your washing process, imagine how many pieces of clothing got ‘lost’ when sixty girls were using the same facilities!
The challenge being at boarding school was that if you lost something, you didn’t have a ready supply of extras in the back of your cupboard. Mummy and Daddy couldn’t just slip you some money to buy an extra jumper or pair of school socks either, you just had to do without.
As a way of minimizing the lost items, my mother had our names printed on tags that we would sew to our clothing. I distinctly remember my tags were printed in bold with green writing.
While it was a bit of a hassle sewing a tag on each piece of clothing (although I’m pretty sure my mother did most of the sewing) it was like the tag placed a security seal over the item. If your name was on the piece of clothing then no one else would touch it and, if you did misplace it, it was easily returned.
The tags held no magical powers, but they saved us a great deal of money as the items always seemed to return home.
Application: In a similar way, we all have God’s name printed upon us. It may not be a visual label but we are all created in His image.
If we are lost or confused then we can look to the Name that is upon us and He will make us feel like we have returned.
With God’s name printed across our lives it helps us to know where we belong and also shows others to whom we belong. There is no greater name to have written on our lives than Christ, our Lord.
Prayer: Lord, we receive comfort and hope by having Your name written on our lives. May we not hide Your Name from others, but proudly proclaim that You are ours and we are Yours. Amen.
What does it mean to you to have God’s name written on your life?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.
2 comments:
It means alot for me to be Identified with Christ. I Know to whom I Belong and whenever I have doubts all I have to do Is look at the name tag and remember.
Awesome Kathie! Thanks for your comment 🙂