Sunday, March 18, 2007

What is your girlfriend's name?

Our pastor has three churches in his district, and he recently organized a weekend retreat at a camp for any of the members of all three of his churches. It was fun to meet people from the other churches that we have prayed for and rejoiced with.
Matthew, my 5 year old, hit it off with a little girl at the camp. They soon became inseparable. They went everywhere together and participated in everything together and I often heard one of them or the other saying, "come on, let's go play." Matthew's little friend is just a couple of months older than him. They are the same height and they are about the same size and they just found each other to be perfect playmates.
I asked Matthew what his little friend's name was, and he said he didn't know. She knew his name, but he didn't know hers. I found out later his little friend's name and shared it with him, but it didn't make any difference to him. All he needed to know was this was his friend, it didn't matter what her name was.
I was amazed at the beautiful innocence of my son's relationship with this little girl and the lesson it taught me. Two children who love to play, run, chase each other, swing and slide on the playground and jump in leaves could enjoy being together even if they didn't know each other's names. What was important was they knew they had a friend.
Jesus isn't concerned with whether or not I know all of the names He is called in the Bible. What matters most to Him is that I know He is my friend.

3 comments:

imfreenow.blogspot.com said...

And a rose by any name would smell as sweet!

Anonymous said...

Very sweet.

David said...

Beautiful comparison and exaltation of Christ and His love for us. Certainly there is a comparison there since we are made in His image. It reminds me of Moses taking off his shoes and bowing before the burning bush and enjoying a conversation with God for a while and then at the last minute realizing he didn't know God's name, so he could tell it to the Israelites.