What Is Your Name?
Day 38 · Genesis 32:27-28
📖 TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Genesis 32:27-28 (NIV)
“The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.'”
Today’s John 15 thread: The Gardener prunes so that the branch bears more fruit. But before pruning comes honesty — naming what needs to change. “What is your name?” is the Gardener’s question. It’s not cruel. It’s the most loving thing He can ask. You can’t receive the new name until you say the old one. That’s how transformation works in the Vine.
✍️ REFLECTION
Jacob is alone.
He knows his brother Esau is coming — the brother he deceived and ran from twenty years ago. He doesn’t know how that reunion is going to go. And in the middle of that fear and that waiting, a man appears and wrestles with him until daybreak.
Hours of wrestling. All night.
And at some point during that struggle, Jacob realises who he is actually wrestling with. And instead of pulling away, he holds on tighter.
“I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
This is not a fight Jacob is trying to win. This is a man who knows he needs something only God can give — and he is desperate enough to hold on through the pain.
Q1: Have you ever been in a season where you were desperate for God — where the circumstances forced you to a place of honest wrestling? What did that feel like? What came out of it?
Then God asks something strange.
“What is your name?”
God already knows his name. He knew it before Jacob was born. This is not a request for information. It’s an invitation to confession.
Because Jacob means deceiver. Heel-grabber. The one who cheats.
And Jacob has to look at God and say: that’s me. That’s what I am. That’s what I’ve been.
A new name doesn’t come until we say the old one. Confession is not just about guilt — it’s about clearing the way for something new. When Jacob said his name, he was naming the old self. And God replaced it.
Q2: What is the old name God might be asking you to say honestly before Him right now? What is the thing about yourself — a habit, a fear, a pattern — that you know needs a new name?
Jacob walked away from that night with a limp. The wrestling left a mark. But he also walked away with a new name and a blessing. The pain was not the point. The transformation was.
God is not looking to wound you. But He will press on the thing that needs to change — because He loves you too much to leave you as you are.
Q3: What would change in your relationship with God if you stopped trying to hide the old name — and let Him speak a new one over you?
🌿 REMAIN IN HIM
Take a moment before you move on. This isn’t a to-do. It’s an invitation to stay.
Reflect honestly: What is the “old name” you have been carrying? Pride? Fear? The need for people’s approval? Don’t rush past this. Sit with the honest answer.
Bring it to Jesus: Say it out loud — or write it down. Name it. Then ask Him: “What is the new name You want to speak over me?” He has one ready.
Trust the Gardener: Pruning is not punishment. It’s preparation for more fruit. Let the Gardener do His work.
🙏 PRAYER
Father, I don’t want to keep holding on to the old name. I want to say it honestly before You. You already know it anyway. Do in me what You did in Jacob — touch what needs to change, and speak a new name over me. I will not let You go until You bless me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
💡 MEMORY VERSE
Genesis 32:28 (NIV) — “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
This post is part of the Abide in Him Daily devotional series — reading Scripture through the lens of John 15:1–17. The branch doesn’t manufacture the fruit. It bears it because it stays connected to the Vine.
