Scripture

Isaiah 56:3b-5 (New Revised Standard Version)

And do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.” For thus says the LORD: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

Consider

Sometimes we may feel so damaged and unworthy that we believe God could not possibly want us to be part of his kingdom family.

Isaiah’s passage, however, illustrates God’s heart by pointing out his mercy to the lowest outcast of Jewish society. The eunuch was castrated in his youth so that he could become the trustworthy keeper of harems and protector of women in wealthy households. According to Jewish law he could never serve in the temple or even be part of the worshipping congregation. Moreover, he could never father sons, so his name and legacy would be lost without means of inheritance. He was highly valued for his specialized mode of service, but personally he was outcast and without a sense of family or future.

Many of us suffer like the eunuch from childhood wounds that make us feel damaged. Abuse and neglect may have twisted the delicate formation of our self-concept and made us feel like outcasts among “normal” others.

Alternatively, we may feel unworthy to be claimed by God because of shameful things we have done to ourselves or to others. By our own efforts we have “mutilated” our souls into a condition that seems beyond repair or redemption and certainly unlovely to the eyes of a holy God.

Isaiah gently points out that past deeds cannot keep us from God’s loving adoption. What was done to us—or what we have done to ourselves—does not weigh in the balance if we seek God with honest and obedient hearts now. By our human standards, we think we must be punished and penalized before our disgrace can be erased and God will notice us. But God measures us by different means. With him, our repentance and earnest desire to follow him today matter more than past deeds, no matter how terrible. His love purifies us to the deepest, darkest depths and makes us worthy to be called his children. His goodness is so extravagant and generous that he goes to great lengths to assure us a place of honor in his family and gives us a name that will endure for all eternity, outlasting and outshining all the dirty and shameful names by which we have called ourselves in the past.

Pray

FATHER, so many times I have wanted to turn back the clock and undo the dark deeds that have put me under a cloud of shame and disgrace. Heal me from harm that was perpetrated on my innocence and cleanse me from the harm I have done to myself. Thank you for rescuing me from the destructive fallout of sin, for giving me a special place in your family and a beautiful name that will never be taken from me.

Reflect

John 10:28; Revelation 2:17

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Why is it important to receive a new name from God that will last for all eternity?