Have you ever thought about all the people named in the Bible? I don’t just mean the real famous ones like Daniel and David and Mary and Martha. I mean the obscure ones like Micaiah and Benaiah. Like Eliel and Zuriel.
And then there’s the long lists of names– of tribesmen and elders and of course those genealogies. But still–imagine having the honor of being one of the names captured forever in the very word of God!!!
Unless you’re one of the names notorious for being wicked. Then you probably wouldn’t want your story and your name immortalized like Haman and Jezebel and Judas. And don’t forget Diotrephes.
Oh wait–you have forgotten Diotrephes? Let me refresh your memory.
The apostle John was writing a letter to one of his congregations and John knew all about the church member Diotrephes. And he wasn’t impressed. He said:
“…but Diotrephes, who loves to be first…” (3 John 1:9).
I read that this week and it stopped me in my tracks. Imagine being famous in the church, but not for something good or praiseworthy, but because you had an undeniable reputation for self promotion and pride and greed. You probably know people like that. That was Diotrephes. A dude who just loved to be first.
Ick.
It just makes me want to go to the back of a line, any line. Just to not be like Diotrephes.
Lord help us be people who serve, who defer, who humbly consider others before ourselves. Help your church be full of people with reputations of kindness, selflessness, and grace. Lord when people hear our names, I pray they would picture someone who looks and sounds more like Jesus and less like Diotrephes. Amen.
Friends, thankfully we have a loving God who knows us intimately. Who knows us by name. And if you are His, your name is written in one of His books. Not the Bible, but the Lamb’s book of life. Imagine that!
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.”
Isaiah 43:1
“The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.”
Revelation 3:5