Your Name

So I wear this ring everyday that says “Joy.” I got it in Santa Cruz on summer project and it was a perfect reminder for me while I was there. It was literally my joy to get up at 8am every day and work at the surf shop. It was my joy to live in a run down motel in the middle of gang territory. It was my joy to share one bathroom with 5 other girls. I heard a sermon from Jon Piper (and do I have to explain his credibility?) a few days ago about our joy in making much of God and not ourselves. He talked about when our foundation and the bottom of our joy and desires are in Jesus, that’s when we see a difference. In the interest of getting personal for a sec, I haven’t felt joy for much of anything since last July. When Mom died, it literally took me down about a thousand notches…in my relationship with God, in my everyday just getting out of bed life, and even physically. I was obsessed with death and for a while thought that nothing we did on the planet mattered because we live a few years, we’re gone, and then generations later we’re forgotten. Yes I actually thought that some days. In a few generations, Mom’s name may never be spoken again by anyone. Truthfully, very few of us are that important. So what the crap do we do with ourselves while we’re just waiting to be forgotten? Well, if Jesus is at the bottom of my desires, I should talk about His name more than my own. In Acts 9 it talks about how Paul was out there killing all these Christians (meaning he was the least likely guy ever) but God called after Him: “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Isreal. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” I think God’s hoping we’d do the same, carry the name of Jesus. Because that name will last when ours is way gone. We’re called to do a lot of different things. Go to some cool places, take certain jobs, marry a certain person, have a kid or three, maybe start a church, but not for our own benefit. For His. And there's endless amounts of joy in that. word.