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Once upon a time, two brothers were convicted of stealing sheep. Each brother was branded on the forehead with the letters ST for "sheep thief." One brother was unable to bear the stigma, so he moved to a foreign land. People constantly asked him about those strange letters on his brow. He wandered restlessly and, finally, full of bitterness, died and was buried in a forgotten grave. The other brother said to himself: "I can't run away from the fact that I stole sheep. I will stay here and win back the respect of my neighbors and myself." As the years passed, this brother built a reputation for integrity. Many times he turned the pages of his Bible to words found in the sixty-second chapter of Isaiah: "You will be called by a new name." Years later, a stranger saw this old man with the letters branded on his forehead. When the stranger inquired what they meant, a townsman replied, "It's so long ago that I forget the details, but I think the letters are an abbreviation for 'saint'."

Consider how often human beings have been branded as worthless by recent writers, dramatists, and philosophers. Albert Camus, the French writer, pictured man as "Sisyphus," after a character in a Greek legend who had the meaningless job of pushing a stone uphill again and again. Desmond Morris wrote a book about man called The Naked Ape. Albert Szent-Gyorgi, a marine biologist, called his book about man The Crazy Ape. No wonder many people today ask whether life has any meaning, and whether human beings have any value! They need to hear that encouraging promise of the Bible: "You will be called by a new name." The biblical writers address you as "Image of God" (Genesis 1:27); "Master of creation" (Psalm 8:6); "The World's Seasoning" (Matthew 5:13); "The World's Light" (Matthew 5:14); "God's coworker" (1 Corinthians 3:9); "God's Child" (1 John 3:1). God made you greater than any problem you face!