All throughout the Bible, we see the Lord calling people by name. Even the first man, Adam, could hear God calling, “Adam, where are you?” as Adam and his wife Eve were hiding from the presence of God. On several occasions, God calls Abram by name and then gives him his new name, Abraham. Once, the Lord calls to him, “Abraham” and he immediately responds “here I am” and the Lord instructs him to take his son, Isaac and offer him to the Lord. As Abraham obeys the Lord and is about to sacrifice his son, he hears the Lord call to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham” and, as before, Abraham responds, “here I am”. Because of Abraham’s faith and obedience, God Himself provided a ram to be offered in Isaac’s place!
God called Jacob by name and confirmed His covenant with him. Moses heard his name called from the midst of a burning bush that was on fire yet was not consumed by the flames. Through this encounter, Moses received his calling as the deliverer of God’s people! God calls to the young boy Samuel, calling him by name even as he was learning to hear the voice of the Lord and would serve the Lord all of his days as a prophet of God. Jesus called Simon by his name and would also give him a new name, Peter. Later, after the church was born on the day of Pentecost, the Lord would call the Apostle to the Gentiles, Saul, to whom He would give the name Paul.
The Lord calls you by your name and not only wakes you up every morning, He awakens you. He awakens your ear to hear when He calls to you and to hear what He is saying to you through His Word. He also awakens your tongue to speak what He gives you to speak. He anoints you for His work each day — morning by morning you have a fresh awakening; if you are willing to hear. The Lord gives you eyes to see what cannot be seen with the natural eye and ears to hear what cannot be heard with the natural ear. What is the purpose of this daily awakening? It is so that you can hear His voice when He calls to you and, if you are hiding from Him because of sin, so that you will come out of hiding and be restored back to Him. He calls you so that you can walk with Him today. He calls you so that you can do His will today. That’s why He awakens you this morning and every morning!