The Meaning of the Name, "Ebenezer"

Now, many of you are familiar with the well known Christmas story, "A Christmas Carol"  by English writer, Charles Dickens, where an old, wealthy yet grumpy and selfish man named Ebenezer Scrooge didn't care much about Christmas nor about helping those less fortunate than himself. Although he was blessed with the financial resources to be a blessing to others, he instead kept his riches selfishly to himself. He kept this up until he received visitation from three spirits who showed him the painful side-effects of his selfish actions unless he changes course. Afterwards, he did change his ways and became one of the most generous men in England.

I believe that Charles Dickens was implying a spiritual message behind this story so that we would not mistakenly read this as just another cute Christmas story.

First of all, did you know that the name "Ebenezer" is Hebrew for "stone of help"? (1 Sam. 7:12). Ebenezer Scrooge in the above story was not living up to the true definition of his name (the true potential his Creator initially intended) until he received supernatural intervention that caused him to have a change of heart and, thus, enabled him to be a financial stone of help to those around him.

Sometimes, God needs to stir up our own nests so that we do not live our lives beneath our true potential. Our Father intends for us to live our lives daily in accordance to His righteous standards, and this is done when we deepen our relationship with Him. The more we spend time with Him, the more Christ-like attributes we take on. Once we become more like Christ, we will be more of a blessing to those around us. Christ constantly gave of Himself selflessly to others; even old man Scrooge had a giving spirit after His supernatural encounter, let us therefore model Christ the best way we can.

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Contributed by Robert Legair
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