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“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” – Exodus 20:7
As the
words left his lips, the room quieted considerably. The boy, no more than 4 years old, had uttered
such profane words that the adults and others in the room stopped what they
were doing and turned to him. His eyes
got really big, and the laughing smile he had on his face was suddenly replaced
with a look of embarrassment and fear.
In his little mind he knew that he had just done something that was
unacceptable and the guilt began to set in.
Quietly, his mother knelt down next to the young boy and wrapped her arm
around him, pulling him close. “Sweetie,
why would you way something like that?”
With his big brown eyes, he looked back at his loving mother, “Mommy, I
watched Daddy hit his thumb with a hammer the other day and those are the words
he said. When I stubbed my toe on the
stool over there, I thought that was what I was supposed to stay.”
This is nothing new. We are all intimately familiar with the loose tongue and carelessness of the words we choose to use as we carry on with the stress of daily life. We are all familiar with the scripture verse that says we should not use the Lord’s name in vain, yet many of us continue to allow this vile and disrespectful language to exude from our thoughts and heart. The problem really comes down to reverence and respect for the most Holy of all names, and secondly whether we truly embrace the 10 Commandments as God’s word or as a suggestion.
Can you stand here today and truly say that God Almighty is the most sovereign and highest authority ever to exist? God acknowledges this fact in Genesis 22:16, as He enters into covenant with Abraham, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord…” A covenant is entered into when 2 individuals agree to their responsibilities with the acknowledgement of one who is greater than either of the parties in the covenant. In this particular case, there is no other greater than God and therefore He swears by Himself, to be held accountable to this covenant with Abraham. Again, in Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses; “I AM that I AM. . . “ when He entered into covenant with Moses. This represents that there is nothing greater to describe His presence, He is all things, He is eternal, He is unchanging. In John 3:16 we once again hear of God’s omnipotence as He tells of His plan of salvation for all mankind. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” This is the ultimate sacrifice the highest form of love known to man, to give his only son.
We know what is written, yet the evil an impurity that is within our heart seeps out through our tongue. It is discarded as mere words or fodder, and not held to the level of accountability that God demands in His 10 Commandments. If we truly embraced, with reverence and holiness, the name of God, we would never utter such filth from our lips. God’s name is to be praised, worshipped and held on high. It is wrong to use His name in a derogatory, demeaning or unrighteous manner. We often are careless and reckless with our language in the heat of a verbal exchange, but this does not constitute acceptable behavior. We can justify it all we want, “slip of the tongue” “didn’t mean it” “He knows I love Him” “others say much worse things”; but it is still taking the Lord’s name in vain. It is sin, period. Like every other sin, we must bring this to the Lord, confess it, repent of it and allow the Holy Spirit to help us overcome it.
There is no greater authority than God Almighty and in knowing this we need to hold, in reverence, everything that He has instructed us to do. The 10 Commandments are not suggestions, they are instructions and yes, they should be taken literally. Perhaps the next time you feel the urge to let loose with a few expletives, you might be cautioned to bite your tongue, or praise God instead. One of my favorite life lessons from the Disney movie Bambi, “… Thumper what did your Father tell you this morning? If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” Perhaps we should choose the Thumper rule more frequently when our angered has reached the level of cursing, or using the Lord’s name in vain.
©
Sondove Enterprises, 2012This is nothing new. We are all intimately familiar with the loose tongue and carelessness of the words we choose to use as we carry on with the stress of daily life. We are all familiar with the scripture verse that says we should not use the Lord’s name in vain, yet many of us continue to allow this vile and disrespectful language to exude from our thoughts and heart. The problem really comes down to reverence and respect for the most Holy of all names, and secondly whether we truly embrace the 10 Commandments as God’s word or as a suggestion.
Can you stand here today and truly say that God Almighty is the most sovereign and highest authority ever to exist? God acknowledges this fact in Genesis 22:16, as He enters into covenant with Abraham, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord…” A covenant is entered into when 2 individuals agree to their responsibilities with the acknowledgement of one who is greater than either of the parties in the covenant. In this particular case, there is no other greater than God and therefore He swears by Himself, to be held accountable to this covenant with Abraham. Again, in Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses; “I AM that I AM. . . “ when He entered into covenant with Moses. This represents that there is nothing greater to describe His presence, He is all things, He is eternal, He is unchanging. In John 3:16 we once again hear of God’s omnipotence as He tells of His plan of salvation for all mankind. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” This is the ultimate sacrifice the highest form of love known to man, to give his only son.
We know what is written, yet the evil an impurity that is within our heart seeps out through our tongue. It is discarded as mere words or fodder, and not held to the level of accountability that God demands in His 10 Commandments. If we truly embraced, with reverence and holiness, the name of God, we would never utter such filth from our lips. God’s name is to be praised, worshipped and held on high. It is wrong to use His name in a derogatory, demeaning or unrighteous manner. We often are careless and reckless with our language in the heat of a verbal exchange, but this does not constitute acceptable behavior. We can justify it all we want, “slip of the tongue” “didn’t mean it” “He knows I love Him” “others say much worse things”; but it is still taking the Lord’s name in vain. It is sin, period. Like every other sin, we must bring this to the Lord, confess it, repent of it and allow the Holy Spirit to help us overcome it.
There is no greater authority than God Almighty and in knowing this we need to hold, in reverence, everything that He has instructed us to do. The 10 Commandments are not suggestions, they are instructions and yes, they should be taken literally. Perhaps the next time you feel the urge to let loose with a few expletives, you might be cautioned to bite your tongue, or praise God instead. One of my favorite life lessons from the Disney movie Bambi, “… Thumper what did your Father tell you this morning? If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” Perhaps we should choose the Thumper rule more frequently when our angered has reached the level of cursing, or using the Lord’s name in vain.
For an archive of Daily Thoughts go to: http://www.10minutereader.com
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