WHAT'S IN A NAME?

“What’s in a name?” That’s part of a famous quote from the popular play, Romeo, and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. The full quote says, “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” I’ve heard the first part of that quote from time to time as long as I can remember. I’ve never really thought about it for more than a few minutes each time though, until recently.

It got me to thinking about all the names I’ve had over the years. Other than all the sweet names my wife calls me, I’ve been called Daddy, by my children, Fred, by my friends, Ted, Teddy, Teddy Ruxpin, Tetty Theodore, Bobby Q, Christopher, and occasionally, a few other names I’d rather not mention.

I’ve always been fascinated by names. Names have the ability to define us. In Bible days a name actually meant something. For example, Abraham means “Father Of Nations.” We see several examples of people having their names changed because of something they did. For example, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Simon’s name to Peter. We also see name meanings change to reflect something someone did, like Judas, which now means Traitor.

In thinking of all the names I’ve had over the years, I started thinking of all the names of Jesus we see in the Bible. It’s amazing how many names and titles he has.

I think “Jesus” is his most popular name in Christianity. The angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to the Son of God, and she was to call him Jesus (Luke 1:31). He also told Joseph to call the baby, Jesus and added: “because he will save his people from their sins” (Mathew 1:21). The name Jesus means “salvation.”

The New Testament writers often refer to him as Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus, and sometimes just Christ. The word Christ is the English translation of the Greek word Messiah. It means “Anointed One.” So saying “Jesus Christ” and “Jesus, the Messiah” is the same thing. Jesus is the Messiah.

In the New Testament, he is called the Son of God. He is also referred to as the Son in the Old Testament (Psalm 2:12). In Isaiah 9:6, he is called “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Other names include Shiloh, Emmanuel, Lord, Master, Rabbi, The Word, the Lamb of God, The Son of God, the Son of David, The Son of Man, Savior, King of Kings, Rose of Sharon, Redeemer, and many more.

That’s a lot of names and titles, and each one reveals a different aspect of his character. So, what’s in a name? A lot, but no matter which name he is called, he is just as sweet.

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OUR 32 YEAR OLD MIRACLE

A little more than 32 years ago, my wife informed me that she was having strange pains. I was concerned, of course, but I didn’t think it was too serious. After all, she was pregnant, and discomfort comes with the territory. Right? Right. It couldn’t be labor pains because she was barely seven months along.

As day turned to night, the pain got worse, so we headed to the hospital, over fifty miles away. When we arrived, we found out it was labor pains, after all. The doctor said it was way too early, and the baby was way too small. He wasn’t due for almost three whole months, so they had to try to stop the labor.

They gave my wife medication for hours, and then hours turned into days. After a few days, the doctor decided he couldn’t stop the labor with the medication. To try any longer could harm the baby if it hadn’t already. He was going to come out.

We knew he was a boy and had already named him Zakary; with that weird spelling. It doesn’t seem that weird to me at all, though. It’s a better way to spell the name than ZACHARY, which I’ve never really liked at all. I guess that’s why I wanted to spell it differently. His mother wanted to name him after Zach from the TV show we loved called Saved By The Bell. She said we could name him Zakary, and call him Zak, which she never did. I got the spelling for the name from a baseball card I had of Zakary Taylor.

For months, we had been anticipating his arrival, and we were so ready to hold him in our arms, but now we were worried; really worried. It’s too early. He’s too small. He may not survive, and if he does, he may have lots of problems.

Wanting to prepare us for the worst, the doctor said, “his lungs are not developed yet. We need to give him a few rounds of steroids to help them develop. Even then, there’s no guarantee. He’ll have to stay in the hospital for a good while. He only weighs about three pounds.”

Frightening news, but we were praying, and begging God to let our son be alright. We knew God could make everything okay. He had so many times before. But, there had also been times I had prayed when things hadn’t gone well, so I was still worried.

After a few more days, and some more steroids, the doctor said he couldn’t hold back the labor any longer. We would just have to deal with whatever problems the baby would have as a result of being premature. So the next step was to go ahead and let him come out, and start working on him to ensure his survival. So, they broke the water, and we waited.

Not long into our wait, the nurses ran into the room and started checking the machines. The machines were working properly. The baby’s heart had stopped. It started back, but his heart rate kept dropping back down. After his heart stopped a second time, they rushed us down to the operating room and began a C-section to get him out as soon as possible. In no time, the doctor had him out and held him up. He was alive and breathing on his own, and he soon let everyone in the room know for sure that his lungs were well-developed. We were so happy to hear him crying.

What a miracle! The premature baby with undeveloped lungs, which the doctor said only weighed three pounds, turned out to have great lungs, and weighed over seven pounds. Praise the Lord! Thank you, Jesus.

As I held my firstborn son in my arms, I was filled with joy and awe. God had given me my heart’s desire; a son. The Bible tells us that children are a blessing from the Lord (Psalm 127:3-5). That day, that blessing was bestowed on me, and I thanked God for giving me a son.

Today, we're celebrating Zakk’s 32nd birthday. That’s over a quarter of a century. It sounds like a long time, but in some ways, it seems like only yesterday when I first looked into the eyes of that beautiful blessing from God. He’s grown into a fine young man, and I’m so proud of him. He reminds me so much of me when I was his age. I love him so much, and I thank God for him, and for the awesome miracle, he performed for us 32 years ago.

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© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

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STUCK - PART 1

When I was really young I remember an incident where I was playing with several of my cousins. The adults were all gathered on the porch of my grandparents’ house. While the other kids were running back and forth jumping in and out of the road ditch, I looked into the culvert that went under the road and saw the light coming from the other end. Believe me, I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I crawled in and headed for the other side.

I didn’t get far at all until I couldn’t go any further. I tried to back up, but no luck there either. I was stuck. I got scared and started screaming. Thank God someone heard me. My mother came and somehow managed to pull me to safety.

Well, you would think I would have learned my lesson, but no. A few short years later I found myself in almost the same situation again. We were on a school field trip, at the city park in the next town over. There was a real jet airplane there for children to play in. For some reason, I decided to crawl inside one of the wings. Once again, I came to the point where I couldn’t go forward, nor backward. I was stuck again. All I could do was cry for help. The teacher came and got me unstuck.

A few years later, I was messing around with a survival knife my grandmother had bought for me. I was so proud of it. It was awesome. The handle was a green camouflage color. It had a compass on top, which screwed off, revealing a hollow inside where all kinds of survival things were stored. Again, for some reason I can only venture to guess at now, I stuck my finger into the hole in the handle.

Once again, I was stuck. I began to panic. What could I do?! This time, out of the blue, it came to me. I had an idea. Just relax, and pull your finger out, slowly. It worked! I was so relieved. I was so happy. Did I learn my lesson? No, but I did learn something very important. Looking back at these, and other incidents, I see how God has watched over me. How he has always provided help for me, and when no one was around to help, he told me what to do to get out of the situation I was in.

Many times we think we had an idea when it was actually the Holy Spirit talking to us. We don’t always realize it, but he speaks to us all the time. That quiet voice we hear that tells us we shouldn’t do certain things, or sometimes it’s just a feeling. That’s the Holy Spirit. That’s how he speaks to us. The closer we get to him, the easier it is to recognize his voice. Don’t wait until you need help to talk to God. He has more to tell us than just how to get out of a jam. He’s the ultimate Father, and the best friend you’ll ever have. He always has time for us, so make time for him. You’ll be glad you did.

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My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6