A New Name

Revelation 3:12 – “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”

Almost everyone has heard the stirring band music of John Phillip Sousa, including his well-known march “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Many stories have been told about his father, who came to America from Portugal. It is said that his original surname was So.
He too was a musician who gave concerts across the entire North American continent. Upon arriving here he hurriedly scribbled on his baggage labels, “Mr. So USA.” Word began to spread and newspaper articles appeared, informing the public that a famous musician, Mr. Sousa, had arrived to perform his concerts in America. As Mr. So was a great admirer of America, the title pleased him, and he proceeded to adopt the name “Sousa,” feeling that it identified him with the land he loved.

As a young student of the Bible, I used to wonder what names some of my relatives would bear in Heaven, especially when they had married two or three times due to the death of their husbands. This thought no longer puzzles me. Each of us is going to be given a new name – one that will be perfectly suited to us and which will immediately indicate our spiritual ability and function. It will be recognized and acknowledged by all as entitling us to a certain sphere of activity in the world to come.

It is a solemn thought that the way we serve the Lord here, the capacities we develop in His service, will have a bearing on our new and accurate name which we as overcomers shall individually receive. Let us constantly “redeem the time” that we may have a worthy name assigned to us on that coronation day!