Before anyone starts thinking I'm perfect in this, let me admit openly that I am certainly NOT. I slip in all areas of this particular Commandment, and have violated it more times that I think would be possible to count. So as I write through this, please understand that I speak to myself as much or more in each and every letter stroked from my keyboard.
"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
For starters, for all you folks who use a phrase similar to one that takes the LORD's name in vain, and then back away from correction by exclaiming that you say something different with different consonants, because you're of a certain faith or from a certain region of the country or that's just how you've always said it, "but it's not that, because I would never actually say that," I need to stop and tell you that you are not fooling anyone. Given the region of the country I grew up in, and the large number of people who fall under strictly regimented faiths there, I know better. Further, there was a time that I stood side-by-side with those same folks, attempting desperately to convince myself and others that I wasn't saying that dreaded phrase, so I understand both the guilt of it and the need to explain, even though no one asks, that "I actually said {this} which ends with a 'T' instead of a 'D,' and therefore I did not use the LORD's name in vain." No. Stop it.
Next, I would like to point out a staggering statistic for the same group, and add to that group all other people who speak English as a primary language. In 2009, computer folks decided to try and count how many words were actually in the English language, using some 5 million+ books as a measurement. Their counter stopped at 1,000,000 different words. Therefore, I submit to you that out of over 1,000,000 words, it is absolutely possible to find a phrase of expression that displays disgust without using either God or Jesus as a part of said phrase. I tell my small group of high schoolers all the time that there are literally countless words in our language, and only about ten to twelve that are considered "bad" ones... so speak around those. Think on that for a minute.
Tying to that last point, I would like to ask a question: given all that we know God did, starting from creation itself and moving through to the beautiful sunrise this morning as I drove to my office, who on earth has the right to blame Him or question Him for anything at all? Have you not heard that He is above us in thought and action (Isaiah 55:8-9)? Have you not heard that He is sovereign (Proverbs 16:1-4)? Have you not heard that He created us (Genesis 1:27)? And if this is the first time you're hearing all of that now, then I must also share with you that mankind, the creation, failed. We failed in the garden, and were banished from paradise (Genesis 3). We failed on the earth, and were washed away entirely (Genesis 6-9). And we failed in the desert, after being miraculously freed from bondage at the hands of the Egyptians, even as Moses was receiving these Ten Commandments directly from God (Exodus 32). We failed Him, and yet He remained faithful to His promise, which is why Jesus came to redeem us all back to the Father. So again, why would any of us think that we have the right to question Him about anything at all, under any circumstance, ever?
Let me put a finer point on it. If you have ever said that God made a mistake, that is blasphemy. If you have ever assumed that God wasn't present, that is blasphemy. If there is anything you believe that God cannot do, that is blasphemy. If you ever think that a decision God made was wrong, that is blasphemy. If you have ever thought that God ignored you or didn't hear you, that is blasphemy. And if you ever thought that something you have said or done influenced a decision of His... that, too, is blasphemy. And back in the Old Testament days, blasphemy was no joke. It is sad that we are so flippant with it today.
The point today, folks, is that we need to understand that our words matter. When we speak, certainly someone is listening to every word we say, and there are thoughts that follow each word they hear. People will decide if everything that is being said comes from selfish ambition, driving all things back to the person speaking. People will decide if the person's words and deeds actually line up, or are they really the best Jekyll and Hyde act on the scene right now. And these people that do the deciding... they're mostly the ones you love and care for the most in life... they're your family. Does that sting for you as much as it does for me?
Final thoughts, from a dear and trusted friend: "I think using the Lord’s name in vain reaches far beyond expressions of disgust. How many times have you heard jokes in which God is one of the characters? How many times have you seen God’s name or names plastered on a trinket? I remember seeing a set of drink coasters with the many names of God on them – how familiar and common. This is not honoring the name of God, but rather trivializing it. The Hebrews would not even speak the name Yahweh. Something to think about. As I remember, when the scribes were copying Scripture, they would bathe, change clothes and get a new pen before they would write Yahweh... EVERY TIME! And we write it on T-Shirts... scary."
How right he is... and whether we choose to admit this or not, it is the truth. And whether it makes us uncomfortable or not, it is the truth. And, on a side note of learning, do you know why we try to hide from the truth so often behind words and feelings and movements and fads and rationalizations? We hide from it, because it is intangible, without feeling or emotion, and it IS or IS NOT, and there is nothing we can ever do to change that.
God bless you all!!!
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