8 I will give you and your descendants the land in which you are immigrants, the whole land of Canaan, as an enduring possession. And I will be their God.”
9 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants in every generation.
15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you will no longer call her Sarai. Her name will now be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and even give you a son from her. I will bless her so that she will become nations, and kings of peoples will come from her.”
Reflection
Though many of us simply refer to the store as “CVS”, it’s original name was “CVS Caremark”. In 2014 though, they announced a very strategic name change to “CVS Health” which is still its name today. This name change was the outcome of a successful rebranding effort to be more focused on accessible public health needs. CVS expanded their widespread pharmacy and clinical services, added wellness and medication counseling, and now has chronic disease monitoring. To match their new health efforts, they moved candy away from the front counter and completely removed other specific products from all their stores that notoriously contribute to declining health.
In yesterday’s text, God gave Abram (which means “honored father”) a name change to Abraham (which means “father of many nations”). In today’s text, Sarai is also given a name change. Her original name, Sarai, means “princess” but most likely with more of a “contentious” edge. Her new name, Sarah, is a serious upgrade. Sarah also means “princess” but with more of the air of “chief, commander or queen”. In working through both Abraham and more notably, Sarah, God changed their names because of the importance of their names representing their identity in the world.
Names can help us portray our identity. Whether it be our actual name, a nickname, a title, or other identifiers, it tells others something about ourselves. When, or if, you took on the identity of “Christian”, it told others about the way God is working through you to do good in the world.
By Rachel Callender
For Pondering & Prayer
Have you ever looked up what your name means? If you have a nickname, where did it come from? How do you express and live out the identifier of “Christian”? Think about what other names or titles you use to express who you are.
Prayer: God who calls us each by name, you have gifted us each with unique, diverse, and beautiful identities. We give thanks for the many ways you call us to grow into better and better versions of ourselves. Amen.
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