Named by God

Hi, and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Today's reading titled Named by God was written by Lisa Samra. Riptide. Batgirl.

Jumpstart. These are a few names given to counselors at the summer camp our family attends every year. Created by their peers, the camp nicknames usually derive from an embarrassing incident, a funny habit, or a favorite hobby.

Nicknames aren't limited to camp. We even find them used in the Bible. For example, Jesus dubs the Apostle James and John the Sons of Thunder in Mark 3. It is rare in scripture for someone to give themselves a nickname, yet it happens in the book of Ruth when a woman named Naomi asks people to call her Mara, which means bitterness, because both her husband and two sons had died. She felt that God had made her life bitter. The new name Naomi gave herself didn't stick, however, because those devastating losses were not the end of her story. In the midst of her sorrow, God had blessed her with a loving daughter-in-law, Ruth, who eventually remarried and had a son, creating a family for Naomi again. Although we might sometimes be tempted to give ourselves bitter nicknames, like failure or unloved based on difficulties we've experienced or mistakes we've made, those names are not the end of our stories.

We can replace those labels with the name God has given each of us, loved one, and look for the ways He's providing for us in even the most challenging of times. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Ruth chapter 1 verses 19-22. So the two women who went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the woman exclaimed, Can this be Naomi? Don't call me Naomi, she told them. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me, the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.

So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You that we're not defined by the circumstances or experiences of our life. And while we may struggle with demeaning nicknames that others have placed on us, or ones we've placed on ourselves, You call us beloved, and You call us Your child. Help us to clothe ourselves with the identity You have given us, and help others to do the same today. Thank You, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.