Baby with no name

Names.  Are they just a way to identify people and/or things?  Or could there be more meaning and emotion involved?  Are names just a necessity to keep everyone from getting confused?

These thoughts came to mind today when I met a mother that didn’t know her own child’s name.  I tend to see and speak to the same children around Zion Church.  I have spoken to this one particular little girl before but she never answers me.  She was with her friend today (who I see all the time-her name is Fiker).  A friend I was with asked Fiker what the baby’s name was and she replied “Boradoe”.  Boradoe means cockroach so we knew that wasn’t her name.  My friend sent Fiker to ask the baby’s mother what her name was.  She then came back and said “Mitu”.  Mitu is a term of endearment that they use for baby’s here so we knew that wasn’t her actual name. 

The mother then came a short while later and we asked her what the baby’s name was and she said “Mitu”.  We asked her for another name and she said “Boradoe”.  My friend (who is Ethiopian) asked the mother to be serious and tell us what the baby’s name is.  She then said that she forgot what she named her.  Take a moment and let that sink in.. . .

This woman named her baby girl when she was born but she has now forgotten.  I, of course, was wondering to myself how you could possibly forget what you named your own child.  I thought to myself: “Does she mean so little to you that you forgot her precious name?”.  Then I thought:  “Well, how important is a name really?  Maybe it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t know her name.  It’s just a word.”

But I couldn’t actually believe these thoughts.  They were just rolling around in my head because I was trying to come up with a logical reason as to why this woman would forget her child’s name.  I know deep down that names are important.  Just imagine how devastated you would feel if your own mother forgot your name?  It is just a word but it is a word that holds a lot of meaning and emotion.  I know that people whose parent’s suffer with Alzheimer's are devastated when the day comes that they forget their children’s names.  And I know that God thinks our names are important.

Isaiah 43:1 says: “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by your name; You are Mine”.

Read that again.  He has called you by your name.  He didn’t just say “Child 54,839,327,293 of mine you are redeemed”.  No, he said “Jonnett,  you are redeemed.”  “Jasmine, you are redeemed.”, “Rebirra, you are redeemed.” etc.  How powerful is that?  The Creator of the world, the King of kings, and the Most High God has called us by name.

Even though this young mother doesn’t know her own baby’s name, God does and He sent His Son to die for her sins.