“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’ Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you…God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’” (Genesis 17:1-7, 15-17)  What is in a name the old saying goes.  And according to the Bible, “plenty!”  When God puts his plan into action, Abram become Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah.  The “great father” becomes the “father of many” and the “princess” becomes “my princess.”  To enter into covenant with God means in part that one is going to get a new name and therefore, a new identity. But there is much more going on here as well.  I am intrigued by the fact that both Abraham and Sarah (18:12) laugh when they are confronted with God’s plans for them.  Turns out their response to the promise is so important that God says, “O.K., go ahead and call the boy “Laughter” (Isaac).  Somethings do seem too good to be true.  And so we laugh, “well that sure would be great”, we say to ourselves, “but such wonderful things do not really happen.”  Or do they?  What if there really is a God who is more committed to our deepest joy than we are? What if as strong as Abraham and Sarah’s faith is, it still does not compare to God’s commitment to us?  What if, in this season of Lent, when we take a good look at our deep need for grace and God’s completely gracious nature, we too realize that we are chuckling to ourselves, overwhelmed by the price that Christ has paid for our salvation?  I do hope that there is at least a smile on your face right now.  Have a great week!