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You are Greater Than You Think!

The Sofa Sleeper

What's in a Name

Frank Chase Jr. SCRIPTURE RERENCE: JOHN 1:35-49 The first chapter of John relates the story of the disciples’ first meeting with Jesus. One by one, these men from different backgrounds met the man Jesus just as the prophets spoke of in time past. These fishermen, excited about finding the Messiah, quickly spread the good news among their circle of influence and one another. As Jesus met each of them, he requested they follow him.

With high hope and excitement, Phillip rushed to find Nathaniel to invite him to meet Jesus the Messiah, the man from Nazareth. When the word "Nazareth" fell from Phillip’s lips, Nathaniel’s continence quickly changed. He did not exude the same fervor as Phillip, but responded with great disillusionment and said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? What annoyed Nathaniel about the little town of Nazareth? How could Nathaniel judge Jesus based upon the community he came from? He could not accept the idea of a man the prophets spoke about coming from an unpopular place like Nazareth. After all, shouldn’t the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Son of God and the Son of Man come from a more renowned place? Despite Nathaniel’s hostility, Phillip persuaded him to come see the Savior for himself.

What was wrong with Nazareth? It was an obscure town with poor people—a shabby backwater town. Its citizenry had a seedy reputation for rudeness. Culturally deficient and opportunistic, the residents of Nazareth did not respect religion, and yet Jesus grew up there. Nazareth did not stand out as a town that produced great artists, educators, musicians or political elites. With Nazareth’s soiled name frozen in the minds of many people who did not live there, the indiscriminate label, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" lived on.

Perhaps Nathaniel struggled with a negative self-image that caused him to belittle anyone who came from a background different than his own. Perhaps Nathaniel thought a person who might change his life should come from a more renowned place like Jerusalem, instead of a worthless town called Nazareth. Or perhaps Nathaniel thought that way because the town of Galilee, in which he grew up, didn’t fair any better than Nazareth. "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth" is not a sincere inquiry by Nathaniel, but a label that defines Jesus based on beliefs about his town and upbringing. Here lies the problem with broken men. We give negative words power over our lives. Somewhere along life’s trail we lost confidence and accepted the negative words spoken against us. We let negative comments like "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" define and confine us.

People prejudge others before they know who they are. In Nathaniel’s case, he had a belief about the man from Nazareth before he met him. Our hometown’s notoriety may precede us, but our hometown’s rap sheet shouldn’t be what we strive to perpetuate. We are men with a purpose and a destiny to fulfill and there’s no time to let slanted views of others bog us down. The time has come for us to go forward despite what we think about our humble beginnings.

Nathaniel perhaps expected no more than he heard or observed with his own eyes in Nazareth. But if he had put aside his dislike for Nazareth and opened his heart, he could have found good where he expected none. Why should we care about what neighborhood, city, town, or hamlet we come from? Our destiny for greatness still awaits us and nobody can hinder it but us. If people judge our lives, like judging a book by its cover, without reading a single page of our experiences, we can’t stop progressing. Our background may not be a rosy picture and the town we grew up in may be of disrepute, but we are different. We’re not the hometown bad boy. We must look at ourselves in the mirror and realize we’re greater than our problems. Greatness doesn’t necessarily come from the upper crust of society or Main Street or with those born with silver spoons in their mouths. God turns great men of purpose from the mean streets. He deposits gifts and purposes within us and expects us to run the race of success in life with the talents He gave us to bring wealth to our lives and to the kingdom of God for his glory. Whether artist, musician, scientist, preacher, athlete, always be the best at what you passionately love to do.

If we don’t run toward our destiny, we will sit on the dock of the bay of our lives and watch our dreams pass us by without accomplishment in life. Immobilized and stuck in the twilight zone of being a "no good thing" will keep us from reaching the seasons of our greatest victories in life. Whether we are boys from the hood or boys that cracked our teeth on privilege and class, nobody can determine the men we can become if we stay and fight through every obstacle thrown at us. Yes, even power, wealth, and privilege can lock us into certain molds of expectation. First, realize that you are a diamond in the rough that will rise and shine. Second, despite what others think you are, believe that God has blessed and favored you. Third, don’t allow detractors to torment or annoy you. Fourth, remember what God said about you in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." King James says, "an expected end." Despite what has taken place in our lives, we should expect more from life and not allow mediocrity to engulf us.

Now that we’ve focused on Nathaniel’s thoughts about Jesus, let’s turn our thoughts to what those words might reveal about him personally. After Nathaniel finally met the Messiah, Jesus spoke words Nathaniel probably never heard anyone say to him as a man. Unlike Nathaniel, whose words about Jesus weren’t wholesome, Jesus did not respond in the same way. Jesus spoke life into Nathaniel’s present and touched his heart like no other could. Jesus saw Nathaniel engaged in deep thought—while under a fig tree alone, which biblically means a secluded time of thought and prayer—long before Phillip found him. When Jesus told Nathaniel about the episode under the tree, I’m persuaded that Jesus not only saw him physically, but also saw him spiritually. He perceived Nathaniel’s potential and the tangled, rummaged thoughts that had him in doubt about his identity as he sat under that tree. Jesus words lifted his self-image to another level and restored his family heritage. You’re probably saying, how is this the case?

As an Israelite, Nathaniel was a descendent of Jacob, who was a cunning schemer and a liar. Sitting under a fig tree with the label of liar tied to his family lineage probably made him feel unworthy. As Nathaniel and Phillip approached Jesus to meet him, Jesus looked at Nathaniel and discerned that he was not what his family lineage dictated and spoke a life-changing word into his heart. Jesus read the pages of Nathaniel’s life history and his private thoughts under that tree. He affirmed Nathaniel’s character as an honest man and a true son of Israel, which effectively changed the way he looked at himself. He no longer had to accept or embrace the label of his descendent Jacob. As Nathaniel stood astounded by Jesus’ insight into his life and family history, he quickly changed his mind and believed in him as the Son of God—the King of Israel. The Lord knows us when we don’t know ourselves.

As men, where do we sit? Are we like Nathaniel? Do we sit under a tree in wonder and meditate who we are like in the family? Perhaps we hang out on the street corner or sit on a barstool soaked in sorrow. Perhaps we park ourselves on the dock of the bay in thought about whether we’re just like great grandpa who messed up the family name. We might be in a church and unsure of where our lives are heading and don’t feel much like a son, but we desperately want a father’s blessing in our lives. Perhaps people labeled us with every name under the sun except an honest man and son, based on our hometown reputation or family line. Maybe we swallowed the labels of others and acted out what they said would happen to us, but the time has come for us to leap into our spiritual heritage as restored sons of God. Filling manhood’s call may be tough when we haven’t had fatherly wisdom pronounced on our lives. But now the time has come for whole men to step in as fathers or brothers and speak wisdom into the lives of fatherless boys. If we forget about the past under the tree of yesterday’s events and are persistent and don’t stop, we will arrive at our destiny at God’s appointed time. We are not bastard sons; we have spiritual fathers in our lives that care about us without alternative motives. We can never allow people to classify us based on our background, family history, mistakes, failures, or upbringing.

Just like Jesus read Nathaniel’s life afar off, so can Jesus read us and speak a word that will change our lives forever. As a son, Nathaniel finally found out that he was a gift of God. That is what his name means. In essence, many men have an idea about what they wish they were, but no focus to reach their objective. Their character and identity comes from how others define them and what they think of themselves. Because of family influences, men still sit under a tree trying to figure out how to live their God-intended purpose in life. But in reality, our character is who we are. Jesus saw that Nathaniel was an honest man and a true son, which relieved him of his sordid family history.

Therefore, who we are and what we dream to become as men often clashes because of a bad family rap. And only the Master teacher Jesus can see our destiny and the mayhem labels inflict on us. He wants to bring steadiness to our incongruent lives. If the hometown status didn’t affect Jesus’ plan, our plans in life should not differ, if we let the Holy Spirit speak into our family ties. If Nathaniel can change his views on Jesus’ worth, there’s no doubt we men from the hood of all parts of society, can change too. We are our fathers’ sons, but now we are valued more as sons of God who no longer sit under a tree trying to decide which label of the family line will determine which road we take. Today, He stands and knocks at the door of men’s hearts who search for purpose and politely invites them to follow him without pressure. Don’t let the family line decide God’s destiny for your life, but derail the unsavory past with an encounter with the Master and know that you’re greater than you think.

All scripture taken from the New King James Version.
Copyright © 1979, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved. Email comments to the Author, Frank Chase Jr., at www.fcpublishing.com and preview his book excerpt from the newly released book,
False Roads To Manhood, Breaking Free From The False T.R.A.D.I.T.I.O.N.s of
Men

The book of Proverbs is comprised of thought-provoking wisdom for every day. Some of the proverbs are funny and could be called holy common sense, but in reality, we’d exist in a black hole of empty knowledge without many of the sayings that pack this book. Two scriptures caught my attention one day as I was reading the tenth chapter of Proverbs. They brought back memories of my youth and the mistakes that could have handicapped my life. Back then, I could have become a permanent sofa sleeper. But thanks to God, who is rich in mercy, I escaped the enemy’s weapons formed against me. In Proverbs 10:1, Solomon speaks volumes of wisdom to youth when he says, "A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother."1 Proverbs 10:5 says, "A wise youth works hard all summer; a youth who sleeps away the hour of opportunity brings shame." 2 To every youth, the time of sleep will cost wealth, opportunity and success.

These verses speak a loud wake up call to apply daily wisdom as we deal with life’s issues. Every parent desires for his or her child to do better, be wiser and achieve more in life. In these chaotic times, children and youth seem wiser, but our choices reach far into the depths of foolishness. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and the have-it-your-way attitude has robbed many youth of realizing God-given talents.

Wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. So a wise child is one who applies correct wisdom, who has watched and learned from other youth who acted without wisdom. A wise child brings joy to a father. A foolish child is one who didn’t evaluate the information gained from the "word on the street," friends, and society. Armed with a little information that could be dangerous and no understanding, they make rash choices and don’t consider the long-term impact actions might have on the future. This brings grief to a mother who wants the best for her children. It’s important that we gain wisdom from other’s mistakes and draw a map to success that avoids the same traps friends and others have fallen prey to.

Young men, young women, be serious about your destiny and evaluate where and who you absorb wisdom from. Sometimes we need to ask ourselves, who is the greatest influence in our lives and who plays a great role in the choices we make? Are our friends the wealth of knowledge we rely on to decide the right choice for life? If so, we’d better question the source of their information before we act on it, because a wise student who asks questions is more valuable than a friend we presumably anoint as a knowledgeable teacher. The Bible declares in Proverbs 4: 5-7, "Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost you all you have, get understanding."3 Think of it this way, if people misunderstand you because you choose God’s plan for your life, don’t fret. But you’d better get all steamed up if you don’t understand yourself and who you are in God’s eyes. Go get the understanding you need for life with passion. The role of sleep is necessary for the body to maintain optimal performance. But the wisdom of Proverbs 10:5 goes a little deeper than physical sleep. It speaks of applying effort to achieve a goal in life. An unwise youth or a sofa sleeper who sleeps away opportunity doesn’t realize his or her potential has slipped away. As an illustration, we can identify with a piece of furniture we love—the sofa. We use the sofa for many purposes. We watch TV on the sofa. We relax on the sofa. We sit on the sofa to fellowship with friends. We use the sofa as a spare bed when friends sleep over. I could go on, but I think you get the message. The sofa can become a best friend, or, the sofa can cause us to become couch potatoes.

Youth is a gift of God, which gives us opportunity because it represents strength, energy, and dreams. But the sofa sleeper (someone who is ill prepared for life and does not work all summer) lacks focus. Sleep will steal the advantage of opportunity to carry out in life what youth allows us to accomplish.

The scripture encourages young people to avoid becoming sofa sleepers who waste time slumbering away the early bird of opportunities and success while gripped by the tentacles of sleep and unprepared for their future. For example, there are times when I’ve sat on the sofa just to relax for a moment, knowing I have to complete some task. But before I realize it, five or six hours of opportunity have gone by. Now I can’t cut the grass or do the chores I planned to finish that day. The same is true for youth who don’t work all summer, or, in other words, youth who don’t make plans for life but sleep away opportunity that could bring tomorrow’s successes.

The sofa sleeper is not just about physically sleeping away potential and possibility. It’s about what we do with our lives as young people. Do we spend our time with unmotivated people or associates who have no direction, dreams or plans for their lives? Let me drive home the point on a personal note.

When I was young, the sofa sleeper attitude or catching some Z’s caused me to lose many opportunities such as an acting career, a tennis career, a musical interest and almost a college opportunity. You might say a little snoozing (wasting of time or having no wisdom) can’t hurt anybody. But it can. I slept and alcohol robbed me of going to college early. I catnapped and credit card debt made me a servant to the lender, Proverbs 22:7. I hit the sack and thought premartial sex was my right of passage into manhood. I dozed and hung around with the wrong crowd and spent a night in a jail cell for stealing. I fell asleep and quit a promising career with the FBI in which I could have become an agent. I took forty winks and allowed my past to rob much of my potential. I flaked out and marijuana kept me from my destiny as a teen to become an author. I became an unwise sleeper of lost opportunity. That’s why the Bible says in Proverbs 20:13, "Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare." 4
For every youth looking for direction and a little wisdom, consider these words from an Arab philosopher:

"There are four kinds of people:
Those who know not, and know not
that they know not.
These are foolish.
Those who know not, and know they
know not.
These are simple, and should
be instructed.
Those who know, and know not that
they know.
These are asleep, wake them.
Those who know and know they know.
These are the wise, listen to them."5

Arise, sofa sleeper (young men and all youth) and head toward the destiny God has planned for you. And as a wise child or youth, believe that you can always make more opportunities than you find in life.

Email comments to the Author, Frank Chase Jr., at http://www.fcpublishing.com and preview his book excerpt from the newly released book, False Roads To Manhood, Breaking Free From The False T.R.A.D.I.T.I.O.N.s of Men.


1 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations marks NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.

2 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations marks NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.

3 Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All right reserved.

4 Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All right reserved.

5 Eleanor Doan, Speakers Sourcebook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Corporation, 1960), 283.

Scripture 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez saying, "Because I bore him in pain." And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.

The article’s title is an important question. Most people don’t consider how significant a name is, what it means and the impact names have on our lives. This chapter begins with a genealogical account of the family of Judah. As a biblical fact, the Old Testament and the New Testament devote entire chapters to genealogy and family history often overlooked by readers. Family history is important. We need knowledge of where we come from in our natural family, and most importantly, in our spiritual family too, because knowing where we come from helps us to know where God wants us to go.

Like a well-performed play, the genealogy reads smooth as God traces the family history of Judah. Verses 1-8 details the generations of the sons of Judah, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. Without notice, God turns a curve and allows the cat out of the bag with a two-verse family history lesson on a man named Jabez. God upstages the genealogy and remembers Jabez’s entrance into this world and drops a dime about his difficult birth. What do I mean when a person drops a dime? Well, back in the 1970s, we used the term for buddies who squealed on us. When we did some wrong, underhanded dirt, we expected our partners in crime not to reveal what happened and to keep a promise not to drop a dime on us. We also used this term for people who didn’t keep their word about private matters and shot off their mouths to others after we confided in them about a problem. But when God drops a dime, you’d better believe it’s for a good cause. The good cause here is that God enlightens Jabez through his genealogy. Perhaps Jabez didn’t know about his family history.

Amid this significant genealogy, God thinks it’s so important that he pauses for an intermission and reveals a key sidebar to us of an account about why Jabez’s mother named him Jabez in verse 9. Because she bore him in pain, she named him based on her experience. His name meant, "He makes sorrowful." In the Amplified Bible his name means, "Sorrow maker." How could Jabez go through life driven by thoughts that his destiny, purpose and the meaning of his name could only produce pain and sorrow in other people? That’s a heavy load to carry.

The name given to us at birth is significant because names connect us to our destiny, identity and purpose. Does this mean our names control success or failure in life? Look back over your life and you decide. The purpose of names is a biblical truth for us to think about. People in the bible often chose names for their children with thoughtful intent and taught their children to understand their name and purpose in life.

To extrapolate from this verse to help single or married mothers, we never see Jabez’s father mentioned at all. Was he alive or dead when Jabez came into the world? Though his mother’s childbirth was full of physical pain, could we contemplate that a financial problem might exist with raising a son alone? Maybe she named him Jabez because in her pain she knew the struggle involved as a single parent and wondered how she would provide for his day-to-day care. This analysis may not be hermeneutically sound, but let me encourage all single mothers not to name your male or female child based on painful life battles. Our children should never bear our pain or the aftereffects of a name we pick because of the unwise choices we’ve made. Babies need names that set them up to know their identity and help them discover their life’s purpose.

As we get down to the gist of Jabez’s prayer, And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested. We see he did not let his name affect his destiny. In fact, God knew his destiny and dropped a dime about his life before he prayed the prayer. God called him more honorable than his brothers. What a compliment from the God of Israel who had a dynamic, embolden answer to his prayer! But did not Jabez know what tribe he came from and what exploits they performed with God’s help? Did he not know the powerful people of the tribe of Judah, like Caleb, a faithful spy and King Solomon and many other kings that came from the tribe of Judah like David? And if that’s not enough, Jabez is in for a treat because Jesus descended from David and thus from the tribe of Judah. That’s why God started with the family record to show us we need to know who we are in the family of God even if we don’t know our natural family history.

Maybe we don’t have a problem with our name. Perhaps we don’t have a name identity crisis like Jabez, but we deal with a label crisis from other people. Maybe negative labels passed down from generation to generation have whipped us upside the head, captivated our mind and has defeated our children for years with effects that shaped their disposition, character, and motivation about how to prosper in life. With false thoughts, we convince ourselves that we’re cut from the same rug as drunken uncle bud.

Some of us don’t like our names nor our history, but we should understand what our name means in God’s purpose for our lives. Whether it’s our name, labels or what people say about us, God wants intimacy with us that models Jabez, who first asked God to bless him indeed. Bless in the sense that God will act without reservation in his time to our request for any need in life. Second, God wants to enlarge our territory. In context, territory refers to land, but God wants to expand our influence for good, not for bad, and not just in material possessions like land, but also in favor that God’s hand is with us in success. Jabez wanted God to keep him from evil and prevent him from causing pain and disappointment to anyone around him. But after his prayer, his life changed. If our natural family history has painful misfortune we’d like to forget, we do have a history in God’s family that’s much different because He lives in our lives.

Finally, God answered and granted Jabez everything he prayed for. Jabez’s life is an awesome story. For as a man thinks in his heart so is he, Proverbs 23:7. I’m glad Jabez didn’t think too long about his name and become a sorrow maker and a painful man, but prayed to God for change. And as intermission ends and scene two begins, God goes back to finish the genealogy of Judah from verses 11-23 so all would know the end of the story is good.

Then what’s in a name? Only what we make of it and what we ask God to do for us in a Jabez-like crisis. My first name is Frank and so is my father’s. My inherent name means "Free Man." The spiritual connation of my name means "Shining." Like Jabez, I pray that God blesses me indeed and enlarges my territory of influence materially and spiritually as a free man in Christ. For whom the Son sets free is free indeed. I pray that I shine because I know my purpose in God.

If my parents had known to encourage what my name meant or if I knew what my name meant as a child, I could have shined as a clarinet player for God. I loved musical instruments and I liked to write, but my desire to be a musician and an author died. Back in the 70s, my passion also flowed in the game of tennis, and I might have shined as a professional tennis player like Arthur Ash, who I always wanted to be like. But the terminator of life experiences sabotaged that dream and many others. Without knowledge of my free man status, I didn’t follow those dreams. My light went out, but God dropped a dime on me in this article and placed in my spirit that I shine like a free man as an author on the center stage of life. The hand of God is with me and my genealogy isn’t a look back in regret but a look forward with knowledge of who I am and always will be. And that’s a free man that shines in the Kingdom of God.

If we had a life that began like Jabez, know that God will drop a dime to remind us where we come from and who we are in Him. And then God will finish the story to let us know that even though we may feel like we’re in last place, we’re always first.

Email comments to Author, Frank Chase Jr., at www.Positivejourney.com and preview the excerpt from his newly released book, False Roads To Manhood, Breaking Free From The False T.R.A.D.I.T.I.O.N.s of Men. ee From The False T.R.A.D.I.T.I.O.N.s of Men.www.fcpublishing.com