Have you ever stopped to consider the commandment “you shall not take the name of the Lord in vain?” For millennia, humans have diminished the meaning of this to merely mean “Don’t say God’s name in a common way,” or “Don’t say God’s name as a curse word.” I can’t help but think that it goes far deeper than that. Consider, if you will, Israel, Judah, Jerusalem and both Temples in Jerusalem. These were the places and people that God placed His name on. And God wiped out Jerusalem, twice, the temple, twice, and dispersed Israel and Judah, twice. Why? Because the places and people on whom God placed His name were treating Him and His name commonly and like garbage, not merely in their worship, but in their lives, and God cared enough about His name to remove His name from them (though He always leaves a remnant). Why, then, do we feel we can do the same? Sunday Morning is not worship of God if we, who are called by His name, do not worship Him in our Jos, homes, families, and everywhere else on any other day of the week.
God leads us to be Holy and Righteous because He is Holy and Righteous, and He seeks to return us to His original design. By Christ’s Life, death, burial and resurrection, all according to God’s word, He grafted those of us who are gentiles in to the seed and promises given to Abraham alongside His remnant, that we may glorify His name. He cleans us up, and gives us resurrection, in this life and will in the next for His Name’s sake. When we make worship of God about us, we’re taking his name in vain, and how often, my dear fellow sheep, do we do this? Lift high the name of the Lord. Walk as if to bring Him glory, always, and seek, always to allow Him to lead you to paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Zepheniah 3:19-20 “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering.
“On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.
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