Day 2 of 21 Days - Take His Name

"Behold, I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name." - Abraham 1:18

On page 13 Emily Freeman writes: "By partaking of the sacrament we covenant that we are willing to take upon us the name of His Son, and always remember Him, especially in our daily walk and conversation. (D&C 20:7).

King Benjamin said, "Therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ...And it shall come to pass that whosoever does this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called, for he shall be called by the name of Christ." (Mosiah 5: 8-9)

It has become fashionable for many women to retain their maiden names when they marry. All three of my brothers wives have felt this was an important part of honoring their own identity. Not so for me. When I married my husband nearly 30 years ago I assumed his last name. I've never believed that made me any less a person in my own right. It was instead, for me, an important symbol of our union and my new role as his wife.

What does it mean to take on the name of Christ?

Dallin Oaks gave a great talk on this topic in APRIL 1985 conference which you can read HERE (with all the proper citations for associated scriptures)

I've read through it once in detail and am now going back to read all the referenced scriptures to gain a better understanding of this complex concept.

Additional material on this subject is found in the Family Home Evening Resource Book, Lesson 13 - Baptism and the Name of Christ.

I've been pondering this some and what I keep coming back to is this...the story most associated with taking upon us the name of Christ is that of the Last Supper. I believe it is very significant that BEFORE the first sacrament, Christ got down and washed the feet of his disciples. Then he blessed the bread and the wine and taught them the doctrine of the sacrament as symbols for his body and his blood.

So I am thinking deeply about ways that I can better prepare myself for worthily partaking of the sacrament. How can I more lovingly serve, how can I more fully submit to the will of the father in full humility, to follow his example to the best of my ability?

In my mind THAT is the key to taking on His name.

I'm going to more seriously study, ponder and pray about the words to the sacrament prayers and try to establish a pattern of experiencing the sacrament with more meaning and purpose.


Account of the Last Supper - John 13: 4-15
Sacrament Prayers: D&C 20: 77-79


Photo Credit: Jesus Washing Peter's Feet by Ford Maddox Brown - 1876
Found HERE