Taking the Name

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."

Colossians 3:17a

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus..."

Dear Christian, have you ever thought of the third of the ten commandments? Do not take the name of the Lord in vain. In my younger years, I was taught that the meaning of this was to not use God's name as a curse word, but is it not much more than that? Yes, we should regard the Lord's name as sacred. We should not so flippantly use it, as we so do in this generation. I think that the deeper meaning of this commandment is found in something that my mother used to say to me, "When you behave badly, it reflects on me." Why does it? Because I have the family name. People see my behavior and say, "Oh that is one of those Bergen boys!" In the same way, brother and sister, we have a family name. The term Christian was first heard in Antioch (Acts 11:26b), and even though the believers did not take the name on themselves (it was given to them), they took on the name of Christ. In Colossians, Paul writes that we should do everything in the name of Jesus. He is merely echoing what Jesus explained to do, "Give a glass of water in my name..." (Matthew 10:42, Mark 9:41). As followers of Christ, everything that we do and say should be on behalf of Jesus. We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that we are ambassadors for Christ, meaning we represent Him on earth. In this, we take on the family name. God's commandment in Exodus was applied to the people of Israel, because they were to be a light to the gentiles and example to everyone of what it meant to follow the One, true, living God. In their travels, the name of the Lord became magnified as they were victorious in battles and nations began to fear them, merely because of the name that they carried with them. This commandment is as true today as it was for them. Do not take the name of the Lord in vain. Do not take on the title of Christian without first understanding what it means to be a follower of Christ. Do not take the name of the Lord carelessly. The commandment comes with a warning, "the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." It is said that many on the day of Judgement will cry out, "Lord, Lord!" And Jesus will reply, "I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23, Luke 13:27). Those that take on the name of Christ but do not plan on doing what His word says are taking His name in vain. We say that we have a love for God, but remember that love for God is obedience to His commandments (John 14:15). In everything we do, we must understand that we are representing the Lord Jesus, and we should not take that lightly. Spend every day asking the Holy Spirit to change your heart, and allow this truth to change your thoughts, attitudes, actions, and words. But also be comforted to know that we take the name of the Lord through adoption, and we are His children, and He loves us.