By Name

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 19th of February, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Isaiah 43:1. The Lord says: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.”We serve a personal God. He is not just the God or the Creator of 8 Billion people, He knows you by name, and will prove that to you if you go to John 20:16: This was Jesus now after the resurrection when Mary Magdalene went down to the tomb to find the Lord’s body and of course it wasn’t there, and then she thought the gardener was there. She didn’t recognise the Lord. She thought it was the gardener, and she wanted to know, “What have you done with the body of my Lord?’ Listen to this: “Jesus said to her, “Mary!”She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).” She recognised Him when He called her by her name. A person’s name - it is so important. I remember when I was a little boy, my dad would come out and say, “Angus”, just once, and I knew exactly who it was, and I knew it was time to come in, no arguments. What about you today? Do you know His name? Is He personal to you? Is He a friend to you, who sticks closer than a brother? Oh my dear friend, if there is one thing I am looking forward to, it is the day I go home to be with Jesus in Heaven, and I want to hear Him say, “Angus, well done, good and faithful servant, come and enter into thy fullness!” That is what I want. I just want to hear my name called by the Creator of Heaven and Earth. What a privilege!Names are so important. I have done many, many weddings. When I was younger, I had the privilege of marrying off three of my own children, and the beautiful thing is, after you have said the vows and the ring has been put on the finger then I love to just stand there saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I now want to introduce you to Mr and Mrs…..and then you can put, “Joseph” or whatever the man’s name is, and I tell you what, I always like to look at the face of that young bride. She now has his name, and then I see his face and he now has his beautiful wife.Don’t forget the importance of names. Try and remember people’s names. It means so much to them.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.Goodbye.