My Whole Name

What’s your middle name? Who knows it? Who calls you a nickname?

While our names are not who we are, they do represent who we are. Hearing our name, we always turn and look, regardless of who is calling it. We choose our children’s names with much deliberation. We bestow names on our animals (and even inanimate objects!) befitting their personalities or looks.

Names matter.

What about God? Do we know his whole name? What does he call himself? What does he want us to call him?

Does he turn around and look when he hears his name, regardless of who is saying it, and regardless of how they’re using it?

The distinctive name God gives himself is the tetragrammaton (“word with 4 letters”) YHWH, which we translate as Yahweh, Jehovah, and LORD (all capital letters).

It means? “I AM” (Exodus 3:14-15). “He Who Is,” or “the One that Exists.”

But to us, it also means that through His holy name, we exist. We are. And we are made holy. And whole.

Our whole name then represents more than who we are; it also reflects Whose we are.

Speak His name often—He will always turn around and listen.

His name is definitely a name that matters.