We had a few couples over on New Year’s Day for a Thanksgiving dinner. You read right. We had turkey and all the fixings.
We sat around and talked, the subject came up about our New Year’s lists or resolutions. Many people don’t make them. I guess because they’re honest and figure resolutions are nice but will be forgotten. My lists all came down to one word: “transformation”.
The weirdest thing happened during our conversation. My husband spoke. It wasn’t the fact that he spoke up but it’s what he said that startled me, “Before Chris and I got married…”
I thought I heard wrong. “Whoa! Why did you just call me, Chris?”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. You never call me Chris. No one has called me Chris since high school.”
He denied it until everyone around the table agreed.
One friend looked over at me and said, “You do look more like a Chris than a Christine. Hmm. Before transformation comes a new name. It’s throughout scripture.”
“Well that settles it, this is a God thing.” My husband said, “From now on I’ll call you Chris as a reminder of what God is going to do this year.”
My first reaction was, yeah right. That will never happen. He’ll forget, so I blew it off.
He has called me Chris ever since. Not only that, those who were there that day started calling me Chris. And now it looks like the whole Sunday school is accepting my new name.
I’ve embraced it, too. It’s how I introduce myself now for the most part. I’ve even changed my facebook page to Chris to the chagrin of my parents, who think I’m a little nuts. But that’s okay.
“With transformation comes a new name.” That statement from my friend has stuck with me. If we look at scripture we see this frequently throughout; Abram turned to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, Levi to Matthew, Saul to Paul.
Casting Crowns has a new song and the bridge goes like this “Throw down your old chains, Pick up your new name.”*
I cried the first time I heard it about a week after New Years.
When we come into a relationship with Christ we are being adopted in His family and given a new a life. I know several couples who are foster parents. A few have welcomed into their home as their own children.
At the adoption they changed the names of the children. It’s as if they were saying, “This is your new family. You have a fresh start, a new family and a new name.”
God adopts each one who is His child. He has no grandchildren. We are a new creation. Our old life is gone, and a new journey with a new family begins. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I believe my husband is right. This is a God thing. Now I’m not saying that by changing what name I go by means that magically I will be a new person. It will take time. However, every time I hear Chris I remember God is going to work and transform me this year. Now, when someone calls me Chris, I almost burst out laughing, and yet deep within – excitement wells up – wondering what is in store.
Are you one of His? God’s desire is for you to be one of His children. What is stopping you from becoming one of His? He wants to create in you a new heart, new life and give you new name (Revelations 2:17).
If you want to know more about being one of His, open the tap “An Invitation” at the top of this page.
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Solitude with the Father 
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