Does the name of Jesus still send chills down your back?

When we expecting our daughter we didn’t want to tell anyone the name we had picked out for her. We had witnessed our friends experience all those awful things people say when they hear the names chosen for their little babies. Horribly negative things like, “Ooohhh, I knew someone named that and they are still in jail.” “Are you sure you want to name her that, it’s rather old-fashioned.” “I’m not sure you’ve thought of the ramifications of a name like that, aren’t you worried the other kids will call them…”

Blah, blah, blah

So we decided not to tell a soul. We whispered the name Emma Elaine as we rubbed my tummy at night. We told our dog Scout, that she would be a big sister to Emma Elaine. We lifted the name Emma Elaine up to God night and day praying for a healthy pregnancy, a  healthy baby, and a little girl who would live her life for Him. It was a sacred time of my husband and I just knowing this precious miracle’s name. Speaking it out loud brought something mystical into reality. Even though we couldn’t see her saying her name over and over again brought up this image of beauty. Whispering her name up to God brought chills down my back as I dreamed and fretted and marveled at what the life of Emma Elaine would bring.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who has fervently questioned my faith and ridiculed my beliefs for many years. In general, the friend fell into the category that religion is the opiate of the masses and if you weren’t strong enough or smart enough like my friend then your faith in something imaginary was evidence of your stupidity. The name “Jesus” was spat out of my friend’s mouth and not as a way to recognize anyone but as a harsh, harsh curse word. What was different this time was that God has been pursuing my friend in a very personal and meaningful way. My friend told me of the journey they have been on and the meaningful searching out of this man Jesus. The thing that keeps ringing in my ears is how my friend said the name of Jesus. It was no longer a mocking curse word. My friend spoke the name of Jesus with a hesitant tenderness, a respectful recognition of what this man was and what He did.

I got chills when my friend spoke the name of Jesus.

I wonder even as believers if we start to become too familiar with the name of Jesus. I want to walk with him as my brother, my friend, my counselor but do we start to forget the reverent power of Jesus being the Son of God, Our Redeemer, Creator, Deliverer, The Bread of Life, Chosen and Anointed.

Does the name of Jesus still send chills down your back? Do you need to take a step back and see Jesus for who He really is and call Him by his proper name?