Thy Name

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4)

The Oxford American College Dictionary defines the word 'name' as meaning "a word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is called."

The name of the slaughterhouse I take my animals to is Mahan's Packing. Recently, I called ahead of time to let them know I was bringing in a cow and four goats after hours, so would they please leave out tags for me to tag my animals for the morning kill? I left them my name and spelled it twice to make sure they would get it right.

The next evening, I showed up with my trailer loaded with livestock and found my envelope with tags left out for me. However, they misspelled my name grossly. My name is spelled Adrienne Michelson, but these name tags were made out to an Adren Mickelson. Although horribly misspelled, I knew these tags were meant for me. I suppose I could have acted huffily and thrown the tags into the snow in righteous indignation over the heinous disrespect to my name, but that'd hardly be good of me. That'd be awfully arrogant, immature and destructive to myself. Without those tags, my animals wouldn't be properly marked, so I'd lose them in the slaughterhouse and never see their meat. For the most part, I'd like to think I wouldn't shoot myself in the foot so badly for the sake of pride.

Some people seem to think that God only answers to one name. I've heard debate after debate on the true name of God, and I'm thoroughly unimpressed. I've been rebuked for saying the word "God" in reference to Him because it's too generic. I've been rebuked for saying "Lord" because it was also used to refer to Beelzebub. I've been rebuked for saying "Jehovah" because it literally means "god of destruction". I've been rebuked for saying "Jesus" because that is not likely what his name was. Purists will tell you that God must be called either Yahweh or Elohim and that Jesus must be called Yeshua. They are convinced that any other name is a disrespect to Him.

I beg to differ! Even if we completely mess up what God's name really is, He knows who we're talking to; even as I knew that those tags which bore a butchered version of my name were meant for me. A wicked man may call his wicked wife "honey", and my good husband may call me by the same name; the name is not defiled because a wicked man referred to his wicked wife by it. I am still my good husband's "honey"! By the very character of God, He cannot be so arrogant as to turn a deaf ear to someone who is earnestly seeking Him. Also, He is not so ignorant as to not understand when someone is calling out a name that is not in Hebrew.

You will know who the God of Adrienne is by what she does and does not do. I follow the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-- the God of Israel-- of King David, of Paul, and of Jesus himself who was One with Him. If what I do bears witness as truth in your heart, then we are of one accord and our God (who is called by many names, because He is I AM) is One and the same!

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are One." (John 10:27-30)

My dear friends, I do not have the time to recount all of the names of God listed in Scripture. Though all of these names, the Lord our God is One!