Name Change

June 20

(Acts 13:9 NIV) “Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said…”

(Acts 13:13 NIV) “From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.”

(Philippians 2:4-7 NIV) “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. {5} Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: {6} Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, {7} but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

In Acts 13:9, a name change occurs. From now on, we no longer read of Saul. He has become Paul. We have seen this before in Scripture, and it usually has significance. In those days, names had meaning that often reflected the personality of the one bearing the name. Saul was born a Jew and given a Hebrew name by his parents -- a name with kingly roots. But his father was a Roman citizen, and he was also given the Latin name, Paul, or Paulus, which means “small”. In the years when he identified as the Pharisee of Pharisees, Saul seemed like an appropriate name. But now his identity had changed -- he was now the Apostle to the Gentiles. The man who had wanted to be everything, now made himself nothing, just as his Lord and Savior had done. Saul had been transformed from “kingly” to “small”. He was now and forevermore, the servant Paul. Let Jesus change your name. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day