Series: Wisdom That Works
Message: What a Life of Shalom Looks Like
Preacher: Dany Hernandez
Reflection: Mark Witas
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Jessyka Dooley
Live Beyond: J. Murdock
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Proverbs 3:1-8 in the New Living Translation (NLT). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: “Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:4)
I love a good name. My dad wanted to name me Oscar. What a great name. Way better than simple old Mark.
When I was growing up, my sister had a friend named Penny Nickels. No lie.
I have a pastor friend who told me his first elder in his first church was named Enus Gruntzit. Great name.
There are legendary names in the Bible too. Just a quick look at the genealogy of Jesus gives us the names Salmon, Amminadab, Jehoshaphat, and Zerubbabel. Wouldn’t it be great to have the courage to name your kid Zerubbabel? All those b’s are so fun to pronounce.
Of course, in the culture at the time of the Bible, as in many cultures, names meant something. It wasn’t uncommon for parents to wait a spell before they named their baby, to be faithful to the personality traits they observed in them. I don’t know what personality traits an infant displays. But this was their way of naming children back in the day.
The meaning of some those Biblical names are: Drawn from Water, He Laughs, Deceiver, Idiot and Master of the Treasure. Others were named Dog, Crow, Rock, Black Ones, and The Bee.
Names meant something.
When I was a kid I used to watch a show called Welcome Back Cotter. One of the characters on the show said his family name meant, “The cows are dying in the field.” It got a laugh.
What does it mean to have a good name? I think it’s about more than what people call you. This proverb is focusing on how people think of you, your reputation, and what you can do to gain a good reputation. In this context, if you allow love and faithfulness to be tattooed on your heart, you will be the kind of person who will have a good name with most people. Genuinely good people are typically well thought of.
How about you? What do people think of you? Is your reputation good or bad? Do you have a good or a bad name? In either case, is there anything you can do about it?
Recalibrate: If you were to have a child, are there names that you would not choose because of a previous encounter with a person of the same name? Do you think names can help shape a child’s destiny?
Respond: Pray these words: “Lord, I look forward to the day when you give me a new name, the name that you have hidden in your heart for me.”
Research: Read about Biblical Names and Their Meanings.
Remember: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 3:3, ICB).
Mark Witas is the lead pastor at Sunnyside Adventist Church in Portland, Oregon.
Find a sand pit or use a tray covered with rice for today’s Daily Walk. Experience the texture of the sand. Let it run through your hands. Smooth the surface of the sand and draw a line in it with your finger.
See if your child can follow your line. Show how you can smooth over the sand with your hand and draw on it again. Everything we do leaves an impression. Choose to press into love; let that be what you are known for.
Draw a picture of a really successful person. What are some of the things that make that person successful? Do they have really nice, fancy clothes? Do they have lots of money in their hands? Do they have a big house behind them? Sometimes when we think of someone being successful, we think it means they have a lot of stuff or money. When the Bible says, “Keep my commands in mind. Then you will live a long time and your life will be successful,” what kind of success do you think it’s talking about?
As you are reading this, you are likely well past the point of thinking that summer was too long and you just couldn’t wait to go back to school. Remember how wonderful an idea that was back in August? But now every day it feels like more and more is added to your plate. Homework, sports practice, piano lessons, after school tutoring, studying for tests . . . The list goes on and on and there seems to be no end in sight some days!
Wouldn’t it be great if at some point in the middle of the week, someone would come along and just take things off of your list of responsibilities and carry them for a bit? Kind of like the “Get Out of Jail Free” card in the board game Monopoly, you could just hand your teacher a little card that gives you one free A+ on the test you didn’t study for. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Think of how peaceful it would be to simply look up from your book one evening when your eyes are heavy and sleep is overtaking your mind, and realize you can just go to bed and rest rather than panic over another quiz!
Proverbs 3:2 says that if we take seriously the teachings of God and apply them to our hearts, we will have entire days and entire years of peace added to our lives!
I don’t know about you, but I sure could use more peace added to my life and less stress!
How do you think we would go about finding this peace Solomon talks about? How hard would it be to do what he is asking? If we put in the work, would it be worth it in the end? Why or why not?
Do you struggle with having peace in your life? We live in an age where everyone is stressed, anxious, and burdened. I was recently speaking at a youth retreat in Ireland and the students told me the number one problem in their lives was anxiety. In Verse 2, the author says the commands of God add peace to our lives. Would you agree with that assertion? If you were to ask me if I agreed with that ten years ago I would have said no. I think the reason is because I didn’t understand the commands of God. I thought they were oppressive and heavy. Yet, as I’ve grown and have had to experience the pain and troubles life can bring, I have learned that peace comes in the way of Jesus. His way is just so much better. His commands make so much sense. His word silences the storm within my soul. When we follow the commands of Jesus we realize that they bring peace to our lives because we were designed to follow His words. May you saturate your life in His words, and as you do, may you find peace in His commands.
Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
Jessyka Dooley is assistant youth director for the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Denver, Colorado.
J. Murdock is associate pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, where he focuses on youth and young adult ministry.
Kyle Smith is associate pastor of youth and family ministries at New Haven Adventist Church in Overland Park, Kansas.