Today’s passage in 1 Chronicles 5:1-18 is what in modern day language might be considered a “shoutout”. It’s like when you call up a radio station to wish someone a happy birthday and have their name read aloud over the air. Or when you put their name on the scoreboard at a sporting event. Here is a list of names of the descendants of the sons of Israel. While I realize they were important to the Hebrew people, it can be hard to read the long, seemingly pointless genealogies. But I like to look at passages like this in another way. Imagine that the creator of the universe mentioned you in his instruction book to his children. In a sense, he’s giving you a “shoutout”. That’s quite an honor. The point is that whether these people did good or evil or nothing more notable than being born to someone else who was mentioned, God knew their names. God knows my name. He knows who I am. Just like he knew who each of these people was. He’s not too busy running the universe that he can’t take just a moment and think about me.
In return do we ever give God a “shoutout”? Do those around us know the name of God? In John 13:35 Jesus clearly tells us how we can reciprocate: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” When we choose to love those around us, we’re spreading the name of Jesus around and honoring him.