To Take in Vain...

Exodus 20:7

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, 

for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Most of us were probably taught the ten commandments in Sunday School when we were younger.  Well...we were taught to recite the words of the commandments anyway.  This is the third commandment given to Moses, the first two being that we are not to have any other God before Him.

Have you ever stopped to think just what this verse is saying?  If you were like me, growing up in a mainstream denomination, you were most likely taught that this verse simply meant that you were not to swear...yes, that's right...I was taught that taking His name in vain was saying His name as a swear word.  As a young, trusting child, I accepted this to be the extent of the meaning; and like most Americans, as I grew older, I did not see the need to re-examine what tradition had taught.

Let me take you on a quick journey to the heart of the Father regarding this verse...

Take = nasa = to lift, bear up, carry, be exalted

Name = shem = reputation, glory

Vain = shav = emptiness, falsehood, lying, worthlessness (of conduct)

                     this word is from the root word show, which means ruin, waste, devastation

Guiltless = naqah = not to be free from obligation, not to be exempt from punishment

To reword the verse using the meanings from above:

You shall not lift or bear up the reputation of the Lord your God in worthlessness of conduct or falsely, for the Lord will not hold him free from obligation who carries His reputation with emptiness.

This gave it a whole new meaning to me!  Taking His name in vain is NOT about using His name as a swear word, as I was taught.  Rather it is proclaiming to be one of His without any conduct to back that up.  That is what I see running rampant in the American churches today.

There are masses of people that believe that they are "saved" because they raised their hand in church one Sunday and repeated a prayer while everyone else closed their eyes and bowed their heads!  That is NOT taking His Name in a worthy manner....this is not lifting up His Glory in a way that exalts His Majesty.

God is telling us that we need to count the cost before proclaiming our allegiance to Him.  We are expected to conduct ourselves worthy of His Name, His reputation, His Glory!  There is to be fruit of our conversion as well as fruit of our continued commitment to this Holy God.

The fruit is to be how we behave...how we conduct our selves....how we choose His Ways over our own.  As we grow in the Faith, our choices are to reflect more and more of Him and less of self.

Are you growing in Faith?  Are you conducting yourself in a manner that says "I belong to God"? Or are you satisfied with your decision one Sunday to raise your hand and repeat a prayer?

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The Lord made it clear when He gave the words to Moses.....He is the only true God and we are to serve Him (not with mere words) in a manner worthy of His Name and reputation.....not our own.

May you be willing to allow Him to challenge the traditions that you have been taught and replace those with His glorious Truth....