Thursday, April 25, 2024

What Are You Called?

"Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
For with God nothing will be impossible
."
Luke 1:36-37 (NKJV)

A call sign is a name that is given to someone to uniquely identify them, but it is not someone's actual name.  Call signs are said to have originated around the time of WW II, and while they are most often used in the military, people outside the military use nicknames in a similar way.  Usually a call sign, a nickname, what someone is called, is based on something that the person did, some physical characteristic, where they are from, or something else unique to that person that is used to identify them.

In Luke 1, we read about Zacharias, who was a priest, married to a woman named Elizabeth, and they had no children.  One day, an angel appeared to Zacharias and told him that his prayers had been heard and that Elisabeth would have a baby.  This was quite a surprise to Zacharias, as the Bible describes him and Elisabeth as "well advanced in years", but God said they would have a baby.  Up to this time, Elisabeth had been called "barren" because she had no children, but God changed her situation, and what she would be called.

After the angel told Mary that she would have a baby, Jesus, the angel said that Mary's cousin Elisabeth was also going to have a baby.  Elisabeth was called "barren", because she had no children.  But with God all things are possible, and Elisabeth would no longer be called barren, but mother.  No matter what we have been called in the past, with God our name can change.  We can go from being called failure to success, from weak to strong, and from depressed to joyful.  We need to look into God's Word and see what God calls us, and be sure that is what we call ourselves.

No comments: