What's in a name

What's in a name? Well, many things. Our name is how most people identify us, know us and remember us. We use it to "sign" for goods, services and also to show our agreement or disagreement for something. I bet few of us know what John Hancock looked like or even what he liked but we all know what he stood for...because of his name. 

Our name can come from various places, literally, as it often indicates our ethnic origins. It could also be used to honor relatives or other individuals. Our name is our contract with society to say we will be an active member and society's response that it will look after us. Our name plants our stake in time and in history. What we do, who we will become and where we go will be forever tied to our name.

In Hebrew there were letters attached to holy words, יהוה,  which when translated to Latin spelled YHWH. Religiously observant Jews do not pronounce the word or letters, which translate to mean "to be" or "to exist" and were used to reference God. However, in Christian traditions the name Yahweh is synonymous with Jesus, a name to which every knee shall bend when spoken. (Philippians 2:10)

In no way am I equating the name of this blog with the name of Jesus but I thought it deserved a little explaining. Eye Heart Mammon when spoken sounds like I Heart Mammon, meaning I love Mammon or money. I dont necessarily mean I love money but I find constant tugs from the world as to put money first. And as I get older that tug becomes stronger and stronger. This blog is about the tugs of the world that pull me (and maybe some of you) away from our real goal of getting to Heaven.

The words also refer to three things that can lead us closer to God or further from Him. What we see,or our eyes, can lead us to envy, greed, and lust or we can use them to see God in others, in everyone, even when its hard. We can look around us and see the beauty that God created for us or take it for granted.

Our heart, or lack of, can lead us to be lazy, to not be strong men and women of God, to love only those who we choose. Or our heart can lead us to love everyone, be courageous and care first for others.

Mammon, in and of itself is not evil. Its what we do with it and what it does with us. God wants us to prosper but not at His expense. I find the older I get the more and more the world is engrossed in Mammon, and I must admit, I get caught up in it. There are so many good uses for money and it makes life more comfortable but how can we use it to the benefit of others better?

EYE, HEART and Mammon, we have choices, and sometimes they are hard but we need to find out what's  in the name for us. How will we be remembered? How will we be forgotten?