God has Bragging Rights on You

God has bragging rights on you. It's like He's got you in a room with a whole bunch of His favorite people and says, "Guys, this is who I was talking about!" Then He stands you up in front of everyone else and says, "Do you remember all the stories I was sharing last week about one of my favorites? This is who I was talking about!"

Then he tells them your name. You've never heard someone say your name in such a way before. Romantic. You almost feel like He's whispering your name to you alone, yet the whole room is present.

Then He goes further. He begins to tell your story. The story is about you and Him. It's all about courage and strength and tenderness and repentance in the midst of an evil and broken world that you had even participated in. You still can't believe He's telling these stories of honor about you and yet it seems so right, as though it were always meant to be. His voice is safe, fearless, and trustworthy. Somehow, God's telling of the story turns it into something you had never known before.

This is what God has to say about the matter:

"¹¹Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus* is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. ¹²He says,

"I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." ¹³And again,
"I will put my trust in him." And again he says,
"Here am I, and the children God has given me."

~Hebrews 2:11-13

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*According to Christian theology, Jesus is God. Therefore, these words that are spoken by him are spoken by God. They are interchangeable.