WHAT’S IN A NAME
The month of August and summer is more than halfway over. By the end of the month, children will go back to school and Halloween decorations will start to appear in stores. Still the weather is hot and summer nights warm. So, where does the name August come from? Originally, the month was only 29 days long, but in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar added two more days when he created the Julian Calendar, giving it the modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC, it was renamed by the Roman Senate in honor of Emperor Augustus because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Cleopatra’s Egypt and his ascendency to Roman Emperorship. His real name was Octavian but when he became the head of Imperial Rome, he embraced the name Caesar Augustus. The name Augustus or August means “imposing, impressive, grand, and majestic.” Augustus was perhaps the greatest of the Caesars, initiating the “Pax Romana” or the “Peace of Rome,” a period of relative peace and prosperity. Yet the word “Majestic” or “Majesty” belongs only to the King of Kings and Emperor or Emperors, Jesus Christ. While his life began during the reign of Caesar Augustus, yet his life would end with the next Caesar, Tiberius, and the beginning of moral decline in the Roman Empire. The antonym (opposite in meaning) of “august” is “humble” or “meek.” This reminds me of what God requires of us: “To do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). August reminds me that it is not the imposing and impressive that inherit the earth, but “the meek” (Matt 5:5). August reminds me that Jesus Christ humbled himself by “becoming obedient to the point of death, even death upon a cross” and as a result God gave him the name that is truly august, truly exalted, truly majestic—the name above all names, the only name by which we may be saved, the name before which every knee will bow and every tongue confess….HE ALONE IS AUGUST AND LORD (Phil 2:8-11; Acts 4:12). This month celebrate August by celebrating the only one who is “august”—the true Lord of Lords in your life.
Pastor Mike
