August 13th

A Better Finish

...And Jesus who is called Justus. Colossians 4:11

What's in a name? Well, you tell me. What nicknames did you have growing up? Differing from our family or given names, which we have from our parents, nicknames most often come from our appearance or our actions.

Consequently, nicknames become a brand over our lives that are hard to escape. We can only get away from them by changing our appearance or actions, which are two very difficult things to change. Nicknames represent the first thing someone notices about us, the way we are introduced to them, and become a defining aspect of our relationships.

Our verse for today talks about someone who had a nickname. His real name was Jesus, which was actually a common name in those days, but his nickname was Justus. Who knows why he was called Justus, whether it was because of something he did, or perhaps his own reverence for Jesus Christ caused him to change his name. Whatever the reason is, I think this verse gives us an interesting twist on nicknames.

It paints a picture for us of someone whose life is so full of Jesus that you could almost use the two names interchangeably. It's Justus, but it's really Jesus living through Justus. It's Jesus, who is called Justus; do you see?

I believe that Jesus has a lot of names. Don't misunderstand me-Jesus is the only name by which we can be saved-not in the name of Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, or any other name. What I mean is that we are the body of Christ, so our lives should be like Jesus disguised as us.

It should be Jesus who is called Bob, Jesus who is called Betsy, Jesus who is called Caden, Jesus who is called Lauren, Jesus who is called...your name.

Do you realize this is actually how we got the name Christian? Christian means, Little Christs, and it was a name given to early-Church believers who so lived like Jesus that the world gave them the same name that He had-Christ-ian.

So, what nicknames do you have? Maybe that's not the question we need to ask. Maybe we need to ask, is your name a nickname for Jesus?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for being my example in life! I really do want my life to look like Yours, but I need Your help. Have Your way in me and make it true that You are Jesus, living through me.

Amen