This past Wednesday night in our Bible study we were studying the letter to the church at Philadelphia. We spent a pretty good amount of time talking about verse 12 where Jesus is commending the saints at Philadelphia for their faith and perseverance in the midst of persecution. As a reward, He promises not only to strengthen them and make them “pillars in the temple of My God” but also to write on them “the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” The writing of these names on the saints by the Lord is a means of marking and identifying them as belonging to Him. As we discussed this verse and what it means to receive the “new name” of the Lord my mind hearkened back to my childhood.

When I was a kid we used to visit some people. I remember getting in the car when I was really young, maybe even 3 or 4 to go over to “Kay and Louis’s.” I was so young that I thought “Kay and Louis’s” was one word with a lot of “esses” on the end of it. All I knew was we were going someplace where a lady and her husband and their kids were nice to us. We played and had a good time, usually ate something and I was always ready to go back. Over the years I learned more about who they were; it was Aunt Kay and Uncle Louis. They were always good to me. They even let me live with them when I moved to Austin to go to college. Yes, have they been good to me. They have been good to a lot of people. Sure do love that “KayandLouis.” I remember being surprised at one point to learn that Uncle Louis was really named George. He doesn’t look like a George, I guess that’s why he goes by G.L. to some people. What I am trying to say is that over the years, I have come to know them better and more fully. What I have called them has changed as our relationship has grown. And I think that is what the Lord is trying to convey in Revelation 3:12. By the time we have known Him for a while, grown in our faith, endured and allowed Him to strengthen us, we will be rewarded by having a fuller understanding of who He is. We shall know His new name. What a reward that shall be. Until next time stay strong in the faith.