Exodus 20:7 ~ Do I Disrespect My Maker?

Photo by: myshilohranch~please contact here for use

Wow, I have been MIA much longer than I realized!

We last visited Exodus 20:5-6 where GOD told us that He is jealous for us and we are not to bow down nor serve any other gods. Ahem ... We left with His promise of mercy to those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Perhaps, I have unconsciously been avoiding this next commandment, because it is actually one of my "little foxes:" You know, those little sneaky guys that nibble off your grapes and dig away at the bases of your vines?!!

Wild Baby Red Fox ~ Photo by Daniel Silver

Song of Solomon 2:15 “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.”

Cute, isn't he? The lesson is, of course, that little, seemingly insignificant things can cause grossly disproportionate damage. We must guard ourselves against little foxes that do great harm to a Christian’s life. No vine = no fruit = no profit for our Lord!

Please come in and join us at Exodus 20:

EXODUS 20:7 ~ You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

*GULP*...*cringe* ... I could be in trouble here!

I grew up with parents, adults, and later with peers that habitually used God's name flippantly and even profanely! BEWARE: "social swearing" is contagious and mutually-reinforcing! It is very easy to fall into this sort of "bonding/solidarity" behavior at work, school, parties, sports etc. However, no matter how the enemy tries to disguise it ... it is straight-out S-I-N!

Until we experience a personal relationship with our LORD, it all seems so harmless, "God knows I don't mean that literally." Yes, He does know, but that does not make it OK! The LORD, Himself, warns us, right here, that He will not hold us "guiltless!" YIKES! That alone should scare the bejeebers ... errrr ...uhhhh ... garbage out of us! FYI: "bejeebers" is a "less sacrilegious (is there such a thing?) form of bejesus," which means "by Jesus."

See???!!!! We need to be SO careful! The enemy so subtly tempts us to ignore God's commandments and minimizes the importance and the power of the words we use.

Satan would love to get us to disrespect and disobey God ... after all, he was the first to do it!

Everyday, even on daytime TV and radio now, we are exposed to the trashing of God's name! It actually is proving to be "politically correct" in these days.

**We must be vigilant to not let it become common and acceptable for our kids to hear the Lord's name being taken in vain. If we limit their exposure, as much as we can, now, they will not be be comfortable with it and the habit will not have ground to grow in.

All of us have friends and relatives who, unfortunately don't understand this concept, usually because they don't know God. My grandchildren were taught from birth, and it was modeled to them, to revere God's name. Every time someone says an inappropriate word; it sticks out like a sore thumb in their world. This is the aberrant for them to hear - not the norm. These folks don't really understand what they're saying, so the kids pray for them to come know Jesus!

We are taught not to cuss using many other "4 letter" words, but "LORD" is usually not one of them.

Using His name lightly, unworthily, irreverently is what this commandment is about. As Christians, we should always show respect and reverence towards the LORD OF LORDS, Creator and Maker of all Good, in Whom we live and breathe and have our being!

I do not mean to, and SO don't want to, but I must confess that I still sometimes take His Precious and Holy name in vain. This happens mostly when I am hurt, frustrated or angry, and mostly when I am out in the barn. I actually just found a term that describes this deplorable habit: "stress expletives."

We so commonly hear, Oh Lord! Dang it! Lord have mercy! Oh my God! OMG! that we are not uncomfortable with those expressions. They seem ok ........

Jesus Christ ... His Most Holy name should be like honey to our lips and water to our souls ... THE Name above all names! I so desire to never again speak it indiscriminately! After all He has done for us! ... *my face in dirt*

"jeese!" ..."sheesh" ... "gadzooks!" ~ which really means "God's hooks," and refers to the nails driven into our Savior's hands and feet. Certainly nothing to joke about!!! "Egad!" means "O God!"

"God dammit!" ... Sorry to offend ... I must admit that I have said it . .. how 'bout you? Immediately, when it popped out of my mouth, I apologized right away, "Sorry Lord, I mean BLESS it." I certainly NEVER meant to ask God to damn anything nor anyone! We are to speak LIFE, not death! BLESSING, not cursing!

Profane ~ Meaning and Definition:
(a.) To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to make a base employment of; to debase; to abuse; to defile.
(a.) Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity; irreverent; impious.
(a.) Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain; given to swearing; blasphemous; as, a profane person, word, oath, or tongue.
(a.) Not sacred or holy; not possessing peculiar sanctity; unconsecrated; hence, relating to matters other than sacred; secular; -- opposed to sacred, religious, or inspired; as, a profane place.
(a.) Unclean; impure; polluted; unholy.
(a.) To violate, as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate; to pollute; as, to profane the name of God; to profane the Scriptures, or the ordinance of God.

I am afraid that we merely skirt the issue when we use "gosh, golly, heck, darn, dang," etc. These are just slang replacement words for the more obvious expletives: therefore can still be disrespectful to our LORD. Sort of like "bookmarking" that spot in our hearts .... yuck!

I really like what 2c33 had to day about this: good tips here!

It is very humbling that the Word tells us ... what comes out of our mouth, comes from our heart! Ewww! Ick!!! My heart must still be SO rotten! Cleaning fish is a stinky process; I am SOOOO thankful that Jesus does the cleaning.

Jesus is ready, willing, and more-than-able to take this sin (and all others) completely away and give us a good/healthy replacement for stress relief. All we have to do is agree with Him that it is sin and ask Him to remove it and enable us to walk, and talk, uprightly. He will even equip us with the tools to modify our behavior!

Finding the humor and/or absurdity in a situation seems to work quite well for me!

Drop a some papers? Mentally note to be more careful next time.

Stub your toe? Don't yell out anything; start laughing ... or singing.

We can learn to quickly access and exercise the fruit of self-control that the Holy Spirit has given us!!! Additional benefits: more fruit will grow and we will receive more seed to sow.

In conclusion:

• be careful not to make references to God without a purpose.


• remember Who we are talking about, when we use any of His names or make any reference to Him and/or His character.


• do not "cheapen" His attributes through a lack of reverence, when we speak of Him.

I have barely scratched the surface of this commandment.

PLEASE, be so kind as to share any additional information, tools, and/or tips that you have. We certainly all can use it. Thanking you ahead. :)

You all have an open invitation to comment on any/all of my blogs. Please feel welcome (because you are!) and comfortable enough to share with us!

It is such a blessing to break bread together! Thanks for stopping by!

Dear Father, God Almighty, Most Holy One,

Name above all names, Blessed Redeemer, LORD of lords,

We know and agree that we have sinned against Your Holy Name.

Please forgive us, cleanse our hearts

and our lips, that we may honor and magnify

Your Name above ALL things!

Please make us aware, as we go forth,

of how we should, and should not, use

Your Holy Name in a way that pleases and honors You!

Thank You for Your Mercy towards us. We love You.

AMEN

I am blessed every day with some new revelation of God's Word.
I will be sharing my measure of manna with all who come to my "tent.
Please, let me know if you have been blessed
by the way it was prepared for you this day.
~Shalom~