Tag: Saul

Posted in Family, fear, forgiveness, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, love, loving others, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, Trials

What’s in a Name?

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

A good name is to be chosen over great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.” Proverbs 22:1

What’s in a name anyway?  If you are a somewhat regular Grits reader you know that my name is Dewayne.  You might not know that my middle name is Eugene.  Dewayne Eugene.  While I suppose in the world of names it is not totally unusual, but it is in the Taylor tribe.  You see, there are not any other Dewayne’s and apparently only one other Eugene and all indicators are that I was not named after him.  So where in the world did my name come from?

Well, you might already know that my Momma and Daddy had eight children and I am the last one—the youngest.  In some circles inside my family, I am known as Precious because I guess I was.  You know, the whole “baby of the family” thing.  I know where that one came from and whether or not, it was earned depends on who you talk to and what day of the week it is.  But what about this Dewayne thing?  Who in the world was Eugene?  Well, the truth is maybe by kid number eight Momma and Daddy had just run out of ideas for names.  Who knows?

There was a guy in the New Testament part of the Bible that had a good and solid name. His name was Saul. Almost certainly he was named by his parents after the first king of Israel—King Saul and once again, at least in some circles, it was name of honor.  King Saul was tall and strong and very kingly…at least until he wasn’t.  So, the New Testament Saul proudly bore the name of the first king of Israel.

Saul was a zealot for the Jewish faith and when this young Rabbi named Jesus came along and shook things up, Saul became a Jesus hater and that included all His followers.  Well, one day Saul was traveling to go to another town to whip people who followed Jesus into shape, and he bumped into the now resurrected Jesus.  Well, it is an understatement but that encounter radically changed Saul who then became a Jesus lover and follower.  The change was unbelievable and total.

Because of that it probably isn’t surprising that Saul started using another name.  You see, while Saul was his Hebrew name, there was a Roman equivalent that had a whole different meaning.  It was then that Saul, named after the first king, became Paul and guess what Paul means?  This is big—it means little.  You see Saul realized that to follow Jesus he had to get small so Jesus could be made bigger. How about that? He just figured his name should match what he knew he should be!

This is a great lesson for all of us Jesus followers to remember.  You see, far more important is that our name is His name.  We should be all about making Him big and us small.  No matter what titles and letters we have before and after our name, we all need to remember that there is one name that matters—His. And maybe the most important name we can bear is “Jesus follower.” Let’s make it our goal for people to know us as a person who follows the Man who died for us and defeated sin and death.  Changing what we are known as can be a challenge. Change your legal name and you will probably need a lawyer.  But if you want to be known by the name you are known by in another realm, just ask your Heavenly Father.  He’ll be glad to help you with it.  He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, Trials

Remember

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

I will remember the Lord’s works; yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all You have done and meditate on Your actions.” Psalm 77:11

I remember when. It is a line that is heard a lot in conversation.  A favorite time. A favorite trip. A favorite memory.  It seems the older we get, the more we use those three words. I remember when gas was 18 cents a gallon.  I remember when a Coke was 5 cents.  I remember when a Whopper was 49 cents.  I remember my first new car was $2,795.  I remember my friend bragging that he could boil water in a paper cup, and I was introduced to the microwave.

Now would be a good time to tell you that I am not 102 years old.  In fact, I am, well never mind.  Let’s just say not that old.  The ability to remember is one of the gifts that God gave to us as humans.  I can remember when I met my wife Judy–boy, she was cute.  I can remember when our first daughter was born–boy, she was cute too–took after her mom.  First granddaughter–yup, cute too. I remember when.

We all have those great memories.  Unfortunately, we also all have those “not so great” memories.  Times when we made unwise decisions that resulted in Goliath size consequences in our lives.  They usually involved a split moment in time when “the want” outweighed “the wisdom” and we acted.  The results were scars, broken hearts, financial disasters, and regret.

So, what do you do with this memory thing?  We all can remember back before the COVID thing was a thing…when things were…normal. Want to go out and eat? Sure. Want to go shopping.  Sure.  Want to go on vacation? Sure.  Want to go to church?  Sure.  Then came that long stretch when things were anything but normal.  Gratefully, now, we are beginning to taste, at least, a variation of normal. But the question remains, “What do we do with yesterday? What do we do with the regrets? What do we do with yesterdays that leave us longing or weeping? What do we do with fear of the unknowns?”

Saul (aka Paul) had to deal with that.  He had a long history of regrets.  As a young man climbing up the corporate ladder, he made his living imprisoning people for believing in Jesus.  People who followed Jesus would quake when he walked into town.  It usually meant someone was going to jail.  Or worse.  He once stood by as a mob stoned a young man named Stephen.  He nodded his approval with each sickening thud as stone met flesh.

So, what happened?  He met Jesus and he was instantly and forever changed.  He went from Jesus hater to Jesus follower.  The only problem was people have long memories and he was a people.  Every look in the polished metal mirror reminded him. Every trip to a new town carried the dread that someone would say, “Hey, isn’t that the guy?”  Ever had that happen?  Ever dread that happening?  Well, Paul did too, and he gave us some mountain moving advice in Philippians 3:13a-14.

He wrote “This one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”  There you go.  He says, “I am not going to let my past control my present or my future”.  Paul accepted one amazing deal.  Grace.  God had forgiven him of all his messes in the past and he finally made the decision to live in grace rather than regret.

So, as we continue our journey through these days of a new different, we can long for the old days, or we can live in gratitude and grace.  As memories of mistakes the size of Everest sneak their way into our present, we can sink, or we can swim in His grace.  As we look in the mirror, we can see what might have been or believe what God says is. The author of Psalm 77 said, “I will remember the Lord’s works; yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all you have done and meditate on your actions.”

You need to know and believe that He’s pretty keen on you.  He’s not ashamed or afraid to call you His.  There is never a hint of regret for His decision to let you in the family.  Hey, believe that.  Rest in that. He’s got you. He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne