“Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,
before you were
born I set you apart;
I appointed you
as a prophet to the nations.”
"Hey you, come here!"
"Why should I?"
"Because I want you to."
"You don't even know my name! Why should I even
care?"
The life of a teacher isn't always that easy. How is this
poor person supposed to remember the names of all the students at his/her
school? There was one teacher who found the solution to this problem. He gave
nicknames to all of his students. For some reason he could remember these
nicknames better than the children's real names!
But can you imagine being born without a name? Everyone
around you would have no choice but to call you "Hey you!" Not very
personal! In such circumstances I would prefer to have a nickname. Hopefully it
would be a flattering one!
When at Moody Bible Institute a friend of mine met
someone one who did not have a first
name for the first five years of his life.
How could that be?
To the horror of my friend, he explained that many new
babies in Kenya do not receive a given name until they are 5 years old. The
reason? The infant mortality rate is so high that some parents feel it is too
painful to give something as personal as a name to a child during the first
five years of his or her life!
Unlike many children under five in Kenya, the man my
friend met survived, thanks to the intervention of a Christian charitable
organization.
We Christians have the responsibility to bring hope to
the hopeless, help to the helpless, victory to the defeated, and purpose to
those who are lost. Love changes everything. Ask those nameless children who
receive a name in the name of the Lord!
"Hey you! What will you do to bring meaning in this
world?"
Dear Lord, open our eyes again today so that we may see
how we can reach out to someone in need and show them that they are loved. In
Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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