Take not the name of the Lord in vain.

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7, KJV).

The first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” has to do with the identity of God, who He is, the Great I Am, Sovereign, Lord, Creator, Sustainer, the Ultimate in Godship. The second commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images,” has to do with God’s Nature, so omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient it cannot be represented by any visual image or artistic rendering from nature. He is Spirit, and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth, not by some representation we see or make and conceive it to be in His likeness. The third commandment has to do with God’s Name and how we reverence it above every name and do not take it in vain (as in a curse) or dishonor it. Paul wrote about Jesus, the name above every name, who came to show us the Father: “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11, NIV). Now or later, every person shall bow to the name that is above every name. Is it not far better to voluntarily honor, adore, and hold in reverence that Name now than to come in due time to acknowledge it, at a time when the opportunity for salvation may be past?

Name has a deep meaning. “To name the name” is to appropriate and command the power of the person named. When we take God’s name in vain, as in a hasty curse or a thoughtless, “My God!” for mere exclamation, we dishonor the Name of God and the Person of God whose name we have used wrongly. And then there are those who, in the name of God, seek to bring under their use the power of Deity to bring credit to themselves. This is another wrongful way to use the name of God.

The third and most important aspect of taking the name of the Lord in vain is with our own identity to His name. We are told in Acts 11:26: “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” To be identified with the name of Christ by being called Christians (little Christs) puts a heavy weight upon our own identity. We take the Lord’s name in vain any time we conduct ourselves in an unChristlike manner. To discredit Christ’s name, which we bear by our relationship to His saving grace in us, is to deny his Lordship in our life, to bring shame upon Christ. When we dishonor His name, we dishonor His person. Let us be true to His name in us!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, August 7, 2010