Read: 1 Chronicles 3-5
Focus Verse: “His mother had named him Jebez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ Jebez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let; your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.” (1 Chronicles 4:9b-10).
Devotion: Names have meaning. Jebez sounds like Hebrew for pain. So his mother named him pain because his birth was painful. Have you ever looked up your name’s meaning and found it to be accurate to your character? We place a lot of importance on our names as our identity. Jabez’s name, his identity, was marked by pain, yet he didn’t let that define him. In God Febez finds a new identity. He is no longer marked by pain. We also have new identities in Christ. We are no longer defined by our name, or our past. Instead we live in a new future, a new life. In Christ our identity is no longer connected to the pain of our past.
Pray: LORD give me a new name, a new identity in You. May I not be defined by things of this world, but by You. Amen.
Additional Scripture: “May the Lord of peace Himself give you His peace at all times and in every situation.” (2 Thess. 3:16)