In Vain

Most Christians know the third commandment, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,” and have an idea about what it means.  In simple terms, like when we teach the little children at church, we tell them it means that we should not talk about God in a casual manner and then we give examples of what not to do.  We should not use Jesus’ name as a cuss word.  We should not use His name in little, unnecessary expressions like, “omg.”  In short, whenever we mention God’s name, it must be in holy and reverential terms and contexts.  But what if we were to take this to the extreme.  What if we were to have God’s holy and wonderful name in our heart, but we were to rarely or never mention it?  Might that be taking God’s name in vain when we keep such a holy and wonderful name hidden and out of sight? 

For example…

What if we came to church to worship our holy and awesome God and we talked about anything and everything else but rarely mentioned God?  Or what if we interacted with unbelievers who needed to hear the name of the God of salvation, Jesus, but we rarely brought up His name and His gospel?  Or what if we raised a family but we rarely opened God’s holy word to read God’s holy name?  Or what if we listened to songs that moved our inner souls, passionate songs that never mention God, the jealous possessor of our souls?   Or what if we knew of God’s power but rarely talked to Him by name in prayer?  Or what if we published digital media in our social groups but rarely or never included our holy and awesome God by name?  Or what if we knew what was right and what was wrong but rarely mentioned the name of God, the Author of what is right? 

We all know the commandment well, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,” and we can all think of examples of others who  break this rule.    Christian, I challenge you to stop critiquing what others should not do and start analyzing what you rarely or never do.  Do you use God’s holy and awesome name or do you keep the name of the LORD your God vainly locked away in the depths of your heart?  God gave us His name for a reason.  Meditate on God’s holy name. Speak God’s holy name.  Sing God’s holy name.  Worship God’s holy name.  Live God’s holy name.  Anything less would be in vain.