the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
Exodus 20:7
The third commandment
Read Psalms 89:1-18
The name of God is profoundly sacred and God requires that all men reverence his name in heart, in action and in speech. ‘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.’ This is the command of God’s law to all men. Though we are not motivated by the terror of the law, but by the love of Christ, I call your attention to this commandment, to remind you that the majesty and sacredness of God’s name forbid all contemptuous, irreverent and needless use of his name. And certainly those to whom God has revealed himself in Christ, who know the eternal God as their heavenly Father, because of their love for him, would rather die than profane his holy name. Our hearts’ desire is ‘Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name!'
It is a sad commentary on our society that the name of God has become a common byword, and jokes about God, about heaven and about salvation are acceptable among ‘refined’ people, even in the pulpit! How often we hear men use the words ‘My God!’ ‘O Lord!’ ‘Jesus!’ ‘God!’ Or some abbreviations of the name of our God, in common conversation, on television, or in song. It is so common that we think nothing of it! Father, forgive our callousness! Painful as this common blasphemy is, there is something even more grievous: I hear many of my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ doing the same thing, taking the name of God in vain! This has got to cease! I do not care to hear people use four-letter words. I wish people would not talk in filthy language. But I would rather hear the most foul language of drunken men and have my family exposed to that than hear the blasphemous, irreverent use of God’s holy name. Do not take the name of God in vain. His name is holy and reverend. Be certain that any time you use the name of God, Father, Son or Holy Spirit, it is your purpose and intention to honor him. Any other use of God’s name is to take his name in vain.
