The Ten Commandments - #3

Exodus 20:7 - Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltess that taketh his name in vain.

Is this commandment ever forsaken in our society? Of course it is. We here people shouting all kinds of profanities with God's name in it. What a shame that our society has come to the place where they do not even have a respect or reverence for God! Even Christians are often guilty of going with the crowd and picking up the worldly language concerning the Lord's name. We here talk of taking God's name in vain, but what is taking the name of the Lord thy God in vain? We will explore this subject for a few minutes so we can better know how to respect God and his name.

First, combining one of the names of God with a curse word is taking his name in vain. When we get angry and spout God's name accompainied with a curse word we are, in effect, blaming God for whatever just took place. If you hit your finger with the hammer while driving a nail into the wall I am sure God had nothing to do with your poor aim. That is just one of many examples of situations in which I have heard people use the name of the Lord in vain.

Second, saying God's name in a sentence that does not involve Him. For instance, someone says something that you think is funny and you reply, "_ _ _ man that was funny." (the spaces represent God, but I don't want to be guilty of acting out what I am currently condemning on my own post) Including God in your conversation in such an irreverant way is an example of taking the name of God in vain.

Third, there are phrases that have penetrated even Christian people's vocabulary. Phrases such as, "O my _ _ _ _ _" (the word is lordy. I Know that it seems silly to put the words in parenthesis instead of the actual phrase, but I am trying to be above board). Another phrase is, "O my _ _ _, that is cool" (God). Yet another is, "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, man" (Jesus Christ) . These are just some of the many different phrases that I have heard said by even Christian people that claim they love God and respect His laws.

May we choose more carefully our words as we speak and conversate with others.