Tuesdays with Jacob

Read Genesis 32:27-29 – So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. (NKJV)

A new name. That’s what God gave to Jacob. Known throughout his life as a deceiver, a product of the expectations his name conjured, Jacob is now free to live a new life, one defined by a new name. That’s what God has done for us. He has taken what we have been and everything we are known to be and given us a fresh start with a completely new name—sons of God. We are now His! What does a son of God look like? What can one expect from a person with such a name? That’s the joy of this opportunity. Every day we get to explore what it means to be a son of God. We have the opportunity to define and find a whole new future because of the new name we’ve been given. How sad if Israel had left this moment and continued to be Jacob. What would have been won? He was a new man and he became the father of a great nation—one far greater than he could have ever produced by the schemes of his past.

– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.