From now on you will be called…

Here’s a fresh take on an answering machine message:

Hello. This is not an answering machine, This is a question machine. And there are really only two questions that matter: who are you and what do you want?

Jacob got to answer those questions during his wrestling match with God.

Picture the scene: Jacob is feeling doomed. Twenty years ago he left his home and his family to escape the anger of his brother Esau. Now God has told him to return home, but Jacob is nervous: Does Esau still want to kill him? Jacob has learned that his brother Esau is coming to meet him with an army of 400 men! That doesn’t sound very peaceful.

Jacob has tried every trick in the book including prayer and an attempt to appease his brother with gifts. (Cattle, and camels, and goats, oh my!) Now he finds himself engaged in a full-throttle wrestling match with God! What next?!

Who are you?

Jacob got his name from the way he was born. As the second-born twin he entered the world holding on to the heel of his brother, so they named him “Heel-catcher.” In those days “Heel-catcher” had other not-so-nice meanings: “trickster,” “swindler,” or “scoundrel.” Hmm, Jacob lived up to his name, I’d say?

Now that God has asked him his name, Jacob has to admit it…

But God has a new name for “The Grabber!”

Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.
Genesis 36:28 MSG

In giving Jacob a new name it is like God is saying: You may not think that you are “good enough,” but I love you anyway. I’m giving you a second chance. Here is how I mean for you to be.

Hmmm, this means that I could be…

OR

How would you answer the question: What is your name?
What name would you like to live?

Discuss these questions with your family.

Photo credits:
A slightly altered “Hello, my name is…” originally by kirrilyrobert, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.