In the Christian Science Bible Lesson December 26, 2011 Issue

'What's in a name?'

For the lesson titled "God" from December 26, 2011 - January 1, 2012

By Ann Edwards

Many people today would cite Juliet’s words from Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet “What’s in a name?” to downplay the importance of names. The ancients, however, took names seriously, believing that a man’s name described his very essence. 

This week’s Bible Lesson, titled “God,” leaves us in no doubt that the children of Israel, especially, took the name of God very seriously. They regarded a breach of God’s Fourth Commandment against taking His name in vain no less seriously than the commandment prohibiting murder and adultery. Christ Jesus also hallowed God’s name (see Matt. 6:9, citation 16). Such reverence is worth remembering at this time. Resolving to utter His name, verbally or silently, with a spiritual understanding of who He is, may be the most powerful New Year’s resolution we could make. 

When God revealed His name to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM” (Ex. 3:14, cit. 8), He declared that He was the same God who had shown Himself earlier to Abraham as “the Almighty God” (Gen. 17:1, cit. 2), to Isaac, and to Jacob during his struggle at Peniel (see Gen. 32:24–29, cit. 7). God promised Moses, “In every place where I record My name and cause it to be remembered I will come to you and bless you” (Ex. 20:24, Golden Text, Amplified Bible). But it wasn’t just His name that He wanted to have remembered. It was His spiritual nature as the one and only true God who responds to and blesses His children when they turn to Him.