Amaryllis

You may know this big, blousy flower as amaryllis. I was given one for Christmas; with a bit of heat, water and light, its bulb shoots up a fat stalk bearing this great, beautiful bloom. I think it is actually an Hippeastrum plant, though I cannot be sure. There was something of a controversy in the botanical world for much of the twentieth century about what these plants were called. From 1938 until the 14th International Botanical Congress in 1987, when a definite distinction was accepted, there had been confusion. Still, for those of us not familiar or interested in the rulings of that august body, the name amaryllis is perfectly acceptable.

When parents name a child, the decision they make will have consequences which will outlast theirs, and the child’s, lifespans. Some of us like our names, some of us do not. In heaven, however, we may be known by something better. Christ will give us a name which only He and we know. Revelation 2:17 says

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Just as the first Adam named the animals, so the second Adam will name His redeemed children.