Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Our names are written in Heaven

Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Luke 10:20

Last year in preschool, my daughter learned how to write her name.  She was very proud.  Suddenly, around the house, the name Emma seemed to appear everywhere.  On the wall in her room.  On the fallboard of my piano.  On her brothers' school papers.  Even on the microwave, in red Sharpie.  

It's not hard for children like Emma to learn that when their names are on things, they belong to them.  Perhaps Emma was hoping that her bedroom wall or my piano would now be hers, since her name was written on them.  How many of us, upon bringing yummy leftovers home from a restaurant, have written our names on the package, so that everyone in the house will know it belongs to us?

God also writes names.  It's as if God is up in Heaven, writing on the wall, just as Emma did in her own room.  He's writing the names of all His children.  His grandchildren.  His great-grandchildren.  And so on.  But of course, he doesn't really need a list, or a red Sharpie to mark those names down.  He knows us all by name.

How do our names get recorded in Heaven?  By God's grace.  He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die on a cross for us.  His Son had to leave behind His throne in heaven and endure hell's suffering.  He paid for our sins.  His Spirit has called us by the gospel, enlightening us with his gifts, sanctifying and keeping us in the true faith.  Thanks be to God, it's a record that not even a Magic Eraser will erase.  

We pray,  Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for writing our names in your book of life.  Thank you for sending your dear Son to die for our sins on the cross.  Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to us, keeping us in faith with you.  Help us to remember that as long as we believe in you, our names will never be erased.  In Your name we pray, Amen.

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