What's in a Name?

The Bible tells us that each human being is made in the image of God - and He knows everyone, even those who have not given their hearts to Him. But, if we belong to Jesus, we have a new name, a new identity, a new meaning for our lives, and new power to live each day. In Isaiah 43, the Lord is speaking to the redeemed, stating:
1 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
3 For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior...

What's in a name? Well, if you have received the computer-generated name "Unakite Thirteen Hotel," there has to be something more, well, personal that can be done.  Unakite, by the way, according to Geology.com is...

...a pink and green metamorphic rock composed of pink orthoclase, green epidote, and colorless to milky quartz. These colors have helped Unakite become a popular lapidary material.

Definitely not on the list of leading baby names, right?  Well, Not the Bee, the website that is a companion to The Babylon Bee, that features stories that are not parody or satire, but could be, reported on the naming of this child from Nebraska, quoting from NBCNews.com:

A Nebraska man is fighting to get a Social Security number and valid birth certificate for his toddler, Caroline — whose name is incorrectly listed in state records as "Unakite Thirteen Hotel."

Jason Kilburn, who lives outside of Omaha, has been desperately trying to obtain a Social Security card and a useable birth certificate for Caroline. Without these documents, he said, he has been unable to get any services for her, from health insurance to child care, because they all require a Social Security number to verify her identity.

Not the Bee relates this:

To be sure, the young lady's early life has been a bit chaotic. She was born to a mother in Iowa who immediately gave her up to foster parents; she was ultimately placed with Kilburn, the father. He and the mother "had dated on and off for several years but were not together when she gave birth."

Evidently, in the time leading up to her placement with foster parents, "instead of a birth certificate, the girl had received only a certificate of live birth," with the bizarre name on it. Kilburn's lawyer said the process is "a circuitous, bureaucratic loop."

The story says that in order to get the little girl a corrected birth certificate with a real name, "the bureaucracy said it needed to use the girl's fake name to get her a real name."  According to the story, "The government did indeed issue the birth certificate with the bogus name, but..."the agency never followed through with getting her a Social Security number." A court subsequently denied Kilburn's request to reopen the matter."

So, what do you make of this?  It's one of those snafus that has proven to be frustrating, but Jason Kilburn knows what his daughter's given name actually is.  

Talk about "assignments" at birth - parents are given that responsibility, yet in this case, a computer-generated one was given.  And, just to be clear, a "gender" is not "assigned" at birth - the only assigning comes from God through biology, not through some doctor's random decision.  But, I digress.

What occurred to me here is that not only do we have a given name, but we serve a God who knows each of us and desires for every single person to experience a relationship with Himself.  As believers in Christ, we have been given a new name, a new identity in Him.  That can determine our attitude and our expectations.  

We can walk with confidence in our Savior because we know that Jesus lives in our hearts.  We can depend on Him to give us meaning and purpose - to know who we really are and who God has intended us to be.  When we recognize that we are loved by our Heavenly Father and have been saved, redeemed, and empowered, we can learn to live our lives as a born-again child of God.