What do you call your bff? - or your bae? I have a friend whom I call "Bolts".  Growing up my brother's best friend's nick name was "Liver Lips".  Er um. Ok?

But what if we're just copy-catting God (again) with fondness for nicknames?  

If God gives you a nickname - is it a nickname - or have you just been renamed?

Well - that question aside - let's make a short list of people in the Bible who got new names.  Lemme see - besides Abraham, his wife Sarai who's renamed Sarah in Genesis 17:15.  God named Isaac right off the bat.  Jacob - Isaac's son - God renamed "Israel" - a big change from his birth name by the way - in Genesis 35:10.  Jesus also renamed Simon Bar Jonah (or Shimon) Peter - which means rock - in John 1:42. (Paul sometimes refers to Peter as "Cephus" which is Aramaic for "rock" too).  The Apostle Thomas was nicknamed (generally I think) "Didymus" (see John 11:16, 20:24, 21:2) - but that's generally considered a more general nickname because Thomas was apparently a twin).  There are more people with nicknames - but this suffices for now.

God doesn't give everyone a nickname - and neither does Jesus (and that's good - it's confusing enough).  But there are plenty of folks who do get nicknames recorded in scripture.  Can you imagine?  Makes me wonder if any of those names my dad called my brother and I from the pulpit ever "counted" as official in God's book? Yikes! Let's hope not.

But - if God had to give you a nickname right now - what would it be?  What name came to mind?  Does that name speak to something about you - or something about God?  Some people earned the nickname much later in life and it reflected who they'd become.  What kind of nickname would you like God to call you knowing how much He loves you?