Thursday, December 12, 2013
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There's a spot in upstate New York where our family always loved to go for vacation. And that began years before when some friends looked at my drooping eyelids and said, "You need a vacation." I've heard those words many times. So we went off to Baker's Cabins. Now, we've stayed there at several points over the years, and then they changed the name of that place to Water's Edge. Same place, different name. Now, we went there after they changed the name to Water's Edge, and it had been called that for a while, but I could never seem to remember that name. I always called it Baker's Cabins. Even though they hadn't used that name for several years, well that was the name that was stuck in my mind. See, once you know something by a certain name, it isn't easy to make that new name stick.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "It's Hard To Change the Name."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 22:1. "A good name," God says, "is more desirable than great riches. To be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Now, the Bible is saying here we should realize the value of our name. And that doesn't just mean Ralph or Bernice or George. It's talking about your reputation; to be esteemed, to be well thought of, to be what the Bible calls "above reproach."
God says your reputation is more important, more valuable than say Donald Trump's fortune, "than great riches." If you've got a great name, if you've got a name people trust and respect, it's better than being rich. In fact, one deciding question should always be, "How is this going to affect my reputation?" And if you're a Christian, then another question should always be, "How is this going to affect Jesus' reputation?"
The problem is that a reputation sticks, even after you've changed. It's like those cabins in upstate New York. I couldn't help but remember what they were, even though they were something else for years. See, that's what happens to human reputations. Long after the thrill is gone, or the deal is made, or a relationship is a memory, the reputation that you compromised in order to get those will still be there. A reputation takes years to build; it takes a day to lose.
If you're still trying to live down an old reputation, you've changed but people are still trying to act as if it's the old you. Well, then, make every effort to go back to the people who remember the old you and tell them what Christ is doing. Tell them that you know what you were, but you know that you are a new person...or you're becoming a new person.
Work very hard at consistency in that area where perhaps you used to fail. Pay back any obligations, repair any hurts, right any wrongs that are from the old days, and ask forgiveness of those who might have been involved in that sin with you. You'll start to build a new reputation. More importantly, let's look past the past. Let's look at the future.
In your choices, always calculate the reputation factor, because "a good name is more desirable than great riches." Guard your good name; guard your Lord's good name. He's staked His reputation on us-His kids. It's His reputation now tied to yours. Before you make that compromise, consider that most important factor, "What will this do to the name...my name; His name?