As a people, we are obsessed with celebrity. We willingly will
pay more than an item is worth due to a name connected to it. Take a mundane
four door sedan, and have a star’s cook use it for fetching groceries, and
automatically it has attained a status to be worth more. Maybe not to us, we
are too smart for that, but someone will always be willing to pay the price.
Hang a Harley Bar and Shield on anything and the value goes up. Mention Steve
McQueen and the value goes up. Mediocre ball players who no one remembers, now
sell their autographs to fans who stand I line and get to pay for it. The value
of a name, or truly a memory is not to be taken lightly. And an audience is
always there and waiting to be fed. Through Triumph I have put break-in miles
on Christina Aguilera’s Bonneville. Did the sound for Angelina Jolie’s ride in
SALT. I have sat on the MI3 bike, and on the white Rocket Flo rides in
Progressive commercial. All now more valuable because a name is attached to
it-just not mine. Yet we all drop names, to impress others, and even ourselves.
And it is nothing new.
“George Washington slept here” is found on many old buildings
back east. Poor George must have been tired from all the personal appearances
just to sleep. No wonder it took so long to win the Revolution. But jut as
many trendy signs stating “on this date 100 years ago, nothing happened here” is
more accurate. But my favorite is from a kid if he knew Lincoln’s Gettysburg
address? His answer, “I never knew he lived there, how could he have an address
there?” Four score and seven was not his home address. As a real estate agent
once acknowledged, when inflating the price of the property, “there are names,
and then there are names.” For instance, remember General Grant? Won the War
Between the States for us. One night while staying at the Cedar Grove Mansion,
in Vicksburg, we ended up sleeping in his bed. No not with him, or even his
ghost. They advertise this bed is the one he slept in. I was just glad for a
place to sleep, and clean sheets. No comment from the General.
So there are names, and there are names. But the one we most remember is
our own. Our own gospel, if you will. And to find it written in the Book of
Life, now that’s important. Something you cannot buy, and more valuable than
having power over demons Luke says. Written in there by the same hand of God
that shows the nail holes from where He was nailed to the cross. The same hand
offering you salvation, with an open palm to prove it is Him. the same hand
that gently knocks on the door to our hearts, asking if He may come in. An
invitation no one else can offer, with no gift shop for prayer cloths, holy
water, or t-shirts as souvenirs. Do this in remembrance of me,” He talks of
communion, but how many commune with Him daily? An offer n t-shirt or sticker
could fully advertise, and at a cost so high no ne could afford it-so Jesus made
it a free gift. Many years ago William Randolph Hearst was a
multi-millionaire. He built San Simeon and filled it with treasures from around
the world. Some so valuable that upon his death, no value could be put on them
that his estate could afford. So they donated the estate to the sate of
California, and escaped the tax. Now it becomes the state’s estate, and their
obligation-no longer the Hearst family’s. That is how valuable we are to
Christ. Wecouldn’t afford the tax levied on sin, so He took it. Paid it, and
today it is His responsibility. Paid in full, it shows our name in the Book of
Life. Now we are His, and it is is responsibility to take care of us. He calls
it love, we call it salvation. And He did it in remembrance of us...
Many today use His name in vain, without reverence to the only one who can
save. They don’t know His name, but He knows theirs. And the Holy spirit is
talking to them daily about Him. Just like He did to you, or is now. What will
you do in remembrance of Him? He offers you a place in His book, will you
accept it? No name dropping will get you in. No card signing, book signing, or
convention gains you access. Knowing scripture will not help. It takes knowing
the one who died for you, on the cross. More than a celebrity, more than a
superstar. He is bigger than any studio, and carries more wallop than any ad
campaign. And someday we will al stand before Him. It is called Judgment Day.
And who you say He is, and the fact you know Him will be the most important, the
only thing that gets you to heaven. Accept Jesus today. Do that in remembrance
of Him. Been there, done that. No t-shirt needed. For my name is written in
the Book. Only one way to know. Ask Him into your heart today. Like I said,
there are names, and then there are names.