“A good name is better than a good ointment, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1).

I read this today during my quiet time with God. As I read it, the power of this verse hit me in a special way. Here’s why . . .

As I was walking through Hobby Lobby this past weekend, I saw a wall art sign that said, “Every child is a story yet to be told.” I loved this quote, so I purchased the wall-art and placed it on the children’s information desk wall so that everyone who walked in would see it and think about it.

I was raised fully aware that I was only as good as my name. My name was my word. My name carried with it my character—whether I liked it or not. I grew up proud to say that I was a Halbrooks, because my father’s name was good. It is still good. I also had a desire to keep that name good, and I always knew and carried the weight of the times that I failed to do so—even when I didn’t realize that it mattered.

I have learned in life that there is no drug, no pill, no drink, no pleasure that take away the pain or shame of a ruined or tarnished name. I truly believe that’s the root cause of a lot of addictions and depressions—a ruined name. A name that, when uttered by the givers of that name, brings disappointment to them. There are people in this world that when you hear their name, you can think of nothing good. There’s no ointment to change that fact.

When the child who now carries that tarnished name was born, his parents most likely named him with the hope that he would be a good-hearted, loving, and kind individual. Perhaps they had dreams that their child would grow up to change the world one day. Imagine a parent holding their baby and looking into his innocent face and dreaming that he would become a meth addict, a rapist, a murderer, a drug dealer, an embezzler, a sex trafficker, or a man that would have over 11 million people killed just because he could.

As the Children’s Ministry Director at our church, I have the joy of being a part the lives of a lot of bundles of joy. I no longer have just my own girls, but I have fifty other stories that I am now privileged to be a part of. We celebrate the birth of these babies. Every year we celebrate their birthdays. Yet, God tells us that the day of our death is the greater day.

Here’s what I believe that means . . .

The day of our death is the tell-tale moment. The story ends. The day of our birth is a story yet to be told. We are given a name. That name may come with bad connotations already attached to it, because of our parents, or that name may come with high regard because of our parents.

As we carry the name given to us at birth, we carry all the things that come with it. But here’s the offer that God gives us. Death.

Death to this name that is given at our birth and an offer to carry His name into our new life in Him. And when we leave this world, we get a new name that is given to us by our Heavenly Father (Revelation 2:17).

Maybe you have tarnished a name that was good when you got it, or maybe you have lived under the condemnation of a name that was already tarnished. There’s only One who can fix it. He offers His name in exchange for yours.

He wants to add you to His story.

By adding you to His story, He changes your story. When He changes your story, then you can end well—with a good name. No matter how your story began . . . no matter how many twists and turns and chapters have been written . . . no matter how many horrors are recorded in your book . . . His book will pull it all together in the end, and the day of your death will be better than the day of your birth. When the last chapter of your story is read and the book is closed, those left to read it will only be able to say, “Wow, what a story!”  —submitted by Nicole Vaughn, Proven Path Ministries, US