A Good Name

“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Proverbs 22:1

This was his life verse, and he taught by his life and by his instruction to thousands of youth and others of the principles in life which bring forth “a good name. He entered into his eternal home just after midnight last Monday morning. He spent a life time living out the biblical principles of “a good name and God gave him abundant riches on the side. These he used generously to advance the cause of Christ and His kingdom. He was far more than a tither, which he believed in with earnest commitment. He honored the Lord’s Day and insured that his business did as well; and God has honored S. Truett Cathy and his business, Chick-fil-A, for honoring him (check out Forbes magazine’s latest report of the most profitable businesses in America this last quarter; Chick-fil-A is among the top 3). They thrive more than those who are open seven days of the week, proving again that God is more to be obeyed and honored than the common rules of doing what is thought to bring the greatest money profit.
Perhaps your thoughts immediately run to what you think “a good name means. In other words, a person who has earned respect in the world, one who is trusted by other people, one who can be counted on by the crowd, one who is known to handle his affairs and the affairs of others with honesty and efficiency, a man to whom others turn for an example of living life the right way with integrity. But while this is all well and good, for the Lord says that we should strive for a good reputation before the world, many of us have lived long enough to know that we can be fooled. Many “a good name in human eyes has pulled the wool over the eyes of those who thought them to be “good. It is far more the test of “a good name when God knows YOU “by name. Exodus 33:17:And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’ Truett Cathy understood that it is a good thing for people to think well of you and trust you, but it is a FAR BETTER thing to please God and for Him to know you by name; which is to say that he knows your heart and your character. If the latter is not there, do not count on having a good name simply by the opinion of mortals. A good name consists first and foremost in being known by God and that He is pleased with you because you know what pleases Him. “He knows my name.
Oh, there are a great number of people who could care less about Truett Cathy; there are those who hate him for who he is and for what he stands, and they call him vile names and say evil things about him. But such hatred is irrelevant and worthless, it is a breath of hot air which the wind blows away; what counts is that God knows Truett’s name. He knows his heart, He knows his life, and He knows his character. Truett treasured this more than anything else in life: God knows me! He knows my name! And consequently, Truett could say, “I know Him.
When you read Truett’s life verse and you claim it as well for yourself from God’s Word, focus on this: Does God know my name and is He pleased with me? The right answer to that question means everything. Without an affirmative answer you are to be pitied more than all men. “A good name is to be desired more than great riches! A good name is that God is pleased with you and He knows your name. Last Monday morning God said with a voice that always accomplishes what it says, “Truett, come home!

“O, if there’s only one song I can sing, when in His beauty I see the great King, this shall my song in eternity be, ‘O what a wonder that Jesus loves me.’ I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves even me.
(3rd verse and chorus of Emily Oakey’s hymn, “I Am So Glad that Our Father in Heaven, 1829-1883)