Greetings Everyone,

I hope all is well for ya’ll. As my pot-o-coffee brews this mornin’, I thought I might get started on this week’s topic of thought. I find myself rushing too often when faced with an end-of-the-day bell. This way I have more time, heh heh.

We’ve been revisiting the 10 Commandments on this Google group to see what they can teach us about ourselves. Those old commandments we first learned as a child seem archaic. And it is true that these words in the Bible are thousands of years old. Ahhh, but what is time to an Eternal God such as ours? Here’s an ASYGR group “Word of the Day” for you:

TRANSCENDENT: universally applicable or significant

Ain’t no such thang as out of style with transcendent, homeys! Can you all think of some examples of transcendent things? How about non-transcendent? Oh, I got one…. Parachute pants. Man what was I thinking, blowing $75+ on a pair!!!

Okay, so please recall the 1st Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” And also the 2nd Commandment: “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”

The angle I have been taking on the commandments is how they manifest true love for God and our fellow man. Why this angle? Because true believers will manifest love for God and for their fellow man. And this love is not an emotion, but the kind of love that is self-sacrificial borne of deep deep convictions. And you want to know something? This 3rd command on the table today shines a bright light on our dark areas…

Exodus 20:7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him (or her) unpunished who takes His name in vain.

So, you may have thought (as I did) in times past that this commandment means don’t say “Godd*****” or “Jesus Christ!!” or such expressions. I would suggest this is a valid way to look at this command. But frankly, this is a shallow understanding.

Here’s an exercise to uncover meanings: Pick out the obvious main words; Take, name and vain. Now find out what those main words are saying to better understand the command. Ready?

Take:  Means to use, to claim, to stand by, to identify with, to bind oneself by, etc. So, imagine this example… I say I’m a Redskins fan, so I take the Redskins as my own, defending them in this hostile land of Baltimore Raven fans. I buy and wear Redskins apparel, I know the players and coaches on the team, I watch the games on TV, etc. So I have great understanding of the Redskins, I’ve invested time in them; I’ve “taken” the Redskins as my own.

Name: Now “name” really means so much more than a Jim, Joe, Jane, or Jill. If you haven’t already done so in your thinking, you need to see “name” as the representation of everything about the bearer of that name.

You know, nowadays we pick names because they sound cool or because they have some sentimental meaning. But back then, names were given as description or reality of that person. For example, “Moses” means drawn out of water (Exodus 1:10). Other examples include “Adam” meaning earth and “Eve” meaning mother of all the living (Genesis 3:20). And Whis’ given name “Lloyd” means grey… entirely appropriate I would say, heh heh!

So just imagine all the wondrous and rich meanings of the Lord’s name; His character, His attributes, and anything else that He has revealed about Himself by His word in His autobiography, the Bible. The Lord’s name is a big deal!

Vain: Means shallow, superficial, empty, marked by futility and ineffectiveness, having no real value, worthless.

Solomon had a bunch to say about vanity in the book of Ecclesiastes. I can’t help but think how some people who have everything they could ever want (like Solomon did) are subconsciously trying to find more meaning in life via things bigger than their possessions and themselves… things like… transcendental things 😉

Now we are ready to piece it all together: 3rd Commandment…

Do not “identify with” “everything God’s name represents” in “shallowness”.

To do so gives Christianity a bad name… To do so is irreverent. To do so is trifling. To do so is to give lip-service… and may I be so bold to say this… to do so is hypocritical. Frankly, I say this because it is easy not to think about it. Self-deception and Hypocrisy go hand in hand. How do we truly love God when we claim to be His and yet don’t even know Him because we haven’t taken the time to read and comprehend what He has already said? What in the world are we following then? O’ Lord, let us not be hypocritical and self-deceived!

If we truly love God, we wouldn’t want to say or do anything that would that would bring disrepute on His name would we? This is the essence of the 3rd command.

Questions/ comments welcome!

Peace,
Jim