Isaiah 9:6

A child is born to us, a son is given to us,
    and authority will be on his shoulders.
    He will be named
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The following devotional is a reflection on the themes expressed and celebrated in the praise and worship song I wrote titled “Bless You, LORD.” You can listen to “Bless You, LORD” at https://youtu.be/djqqUsItOhM

You know those “And He Shall Be Called" posters you used to find at Walmart and Christian bookstores? Maybe they’re still there, but it’s been a long time since I’ve gone poster hunting. Those posters are pretty cheesy, but if we look closely into them, they can be pretty cool.

At face value, they’re just a list of names and titles that have been ascribed to Jesus Christ. If you dig deeper, however, there’s a lot more going on. Most of those posters have scripture references tied to each name. Follow those scriptures and you might start to get a sense of what those names mean, and what they say about who our savior is.

Without the context, they’re just names and titles that we may or may not understand, but in context, they paint an image of a savior, of a Father, and of a Spirit who meets us where we are; a God that isn’t distant and far off, but is here, in our story, even now. A God who takes walks with us in gardens, speaks to us through burning bushes, guides us through deserts, reveals himself in new ways on mountains, and so on, and so on.

Wherever we are, today, God is here, ready to meet us. God doesn’t simply wait for us to get our act together and journey to him, God meets us where we’re at and calls us to his journey. He then guides us on that journey, empowering and enlightening us along the way. 

All those names and titles represent specific times God has moved in the history of believers. What has God done in your life? What is he doing? What are you believing he will do? What scriptural name for him might you claim for your story, or what new title might you give him based on your story?

— Chris Aytes
Associate Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Wamego, Kansas

Prayer for Reflection

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Psalm 149 or Psalm 150
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31