Give Me a New Name
Joshua Blakesley
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Reviews | You Rate It | Lyrics | Artist Reflection
1. Seaside, looking for the ones
who would immortalize his life
and carry on the message of Jesus Christ.
Willing to hear his word
and never be the same again.
2. Nearby, there's a man that's willing
to stand and reply, a sign.
Given a new name, a new heart and mind,
willing to hear his word
and never be the same again.
Refrain
Lord, give me a new name
and tell me your story, yeah!
I'll never be the same
when I see your glory, yeah!
Lord, give me a new name.
Give me a new name, new name.
3. Solid ground, building a kingdom
that could never fall down, profound.
Simon transformed to "the Rock"
and now he's willing to hear your word
and never be the same again.
Bridge
Lord, can you change my ways?
Lord, can you change my name? Yeah!
Lord, give me a new name.
I'll never be the same.
© 2002, 2003, Joshua Blakesley. Published by spiritandsong.com®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved.
The original idea for "Give Me a New Name" came from my wife, Heather. She was listening to a radio broadcast by Joyce Myers. Myers was speaking about turning from our old ways and being made new in the image of God. She talked about God changing Abram's name to Abraham and Jesus transforming Simon to Peter. Heather was excited about the thought of God changing those men. She loved the idea of our old, sinful ways being made new.
As I prayed and reflected about it, I began to realize the significance of God changing a person's name. Simply changing the heart was not sufficient. It's as if He was saying, "I want the whole world to know and see the difference in you. I'm giving you a new identity." It was then that I began wondering about my own zeal for God. Do people see Christ in me? Does God have to physically change my name so that others may recognize His life in me? Hey, whatever it takes! If God has to change my name to make me a better servant, then let's have it. I wondered what name God would give me. I laughed at the notion of going to the courthouse and changing my name to Ahmed or Zeke. I decided to make it my prayer. "Lord, baptize me. Renew my heart. Change my name.”
It's amazing how some songs just pour out on the paper and others are just laborious to write. This one took a while. I'm not sure why. It's not like it's an epic song or anything. I guess the words that I wanted just didn't seem to come right away. Starting out, I was sure of a few things. I knew I wanted to focus more on Peter. I liked that God could change a zealous man with a temper into the head of the Church. I also liked that Jesus met Simon right next to the sea. It seems like anytime anyone makes a significant change of life in the bible there’s water involved. It's like a baptism. In a sense it was a baptism for Peter. His eyes were opened and he knew he wanted to follow Christ. So, taking the water, the first pope, and my prayer all into account, I decided to write a song. A few days later it was complete.
More recently, as I was reading a book entitled Wild at Heart (John Eldredge), this song took on a new meaning. There's a section in Chapter 7 called God's Name for us. Eldredge says, "What God sees when he sees you is the real you, the true you, the man he had in mind when he made you... He knows your name." It is so simple yet God spoke volumes to me through that passage. God sees past the sin because he washed it away. He sees through to the very heart of me because he gave me a brand new one. That is baptism! That is what we're called to! What an amazing realization! When God reminded me in that simple way of my "new name," I thought of Peter. My eyes were opened and I remembered my zeal for Christ. In that moment I felt like God really had given me a new name (you can call me Zeke). I hope that "Give Me a New Name" listeners will be able to receive that same blessing through the song and know the true power of God’s life changing power.
- Joshua
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