I Have Called You By Name: Let This Change Your Life Forever
“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1, ESV).
We’re sitting in the fading light of a late-summer evening when Aiden, our youngest son, runs to me and nuzzles his cheek against mine.
As if he just can’t get enough, he plops onto my lap, wraps both arms around my waist, and buries his face in my T-shirt.
“I’m glad you’re my mom,” he declares.
“And I’m so glad you’re my son,” I answer.
From the deck, his older brother notices us, sprints across the yard, and collapses on top of us.
“She’s mine!” Aiden teases, “My mama!”
“You’re both my boys,” I say as we collapse into the grass together.
As we watch the clouds pass overhead, I remember the summer when Aiden was born. Until that summer, the phrase, “my boys,” wasn’t a part of my vocabulary.
We had a son and a daughter, and it had never crossed my mind that a third child would usher a new label into our lives.
The first time I said, “My boys,” the words caught in my throat. A lifetime spent wondering how many children I would one day have, what they would be like, and whether they would be boys or girls had found its answer.
After Aiden was born, I spent months marveling at our new reality. I was the mother of three children: my boys and my girl.
Of course, I knew that our beautiful, blue-eyed children were not exclusively mine. They were ours. Nevertheless, they were also mine, and I was delighted.
They were mine to cherish and love and shepherd. Mine to protect and nurture and teach. Most of all, they were mine to enjoy.
I Have Called You By Name
As I reflect on this journey, the words of Isaiah 43:1 come to mind: “I have called you by name, you are mine.”
These were God’s words to his people thousands of years ago, and they are also his words to his people today.
Just as proud parents gloat over their beloved children, God finds great joy in calling us his own.
Just as proud parents gloat over their beloved children, God finds great joy in calling us his own. #identity #God Share on XMost people define themselves by their labels and titles: wife, mother, friend, daughter, artist, teacher, doctor, student, and other titles. Meanwhile, our heavenly Father reminds us that before all of these labels—and when the labels are stripped away—we are first his.
Friend, if you are a follower of Christ, the Creator of the universe looks at you and decrees, “She is mine!”
He delights in your presence, and he is proud to call you his child. He sees your imperfections, weaknesses, faults, and failures. These parts of you don’t change the way he feels about you—not in the least.
I find that I need this reminder—the reminder that I am his—when the losses of life strip away the labels I thought I’d never lose.
We need to know that we are his when we walk away from the careers that have defined our lives for decades. We need to know that we are his when marriages fall apart, loved ones die, and friendships disintegrate.
When labels such as wife, daughter, sister, and best friend no longer hold true, we can rest in the truth that our Maker has called us by name. We are still his.
We will always be his, and nothing can strip away this label.
God’s Great Love
As for my little boys, we spend the last moments of the evening lying on our backs and watching the clouds pass overhead. I tell them about God’s love for them—how they will always belong to him and how he calls them his own—and the words wash over us all like a warm summer breeze.
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Calling All Moms and Daughters!
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