#3 - Respect God's Name Series

Apparently, it’s worth that much to them to help you have a positive image of their name.

Scripture even says it’s worth a lot to you and I to have a good name.

“It is better to have a good name than great riches.” Proverbs 22:1

God’s name is “_______________________” for the same reasons.

Now, if a company feels that strongly about their name and their reputation, how do you think God feels when we use His name in an improper way?

I think that it makes Him very angry. The latter part of Exodus 20:7 says that He will not hold guiltless anyone who misuses or takes in vain His name. To put it in legal terms, he will not drop His lawsuit against those who use His name in an improper way or without His permission. He will prosecute. I told you at the beginning of this series that my goal is to spare you from pain, like keeping you from playing in the street or jumping off a building. Here’s God, saying “This is one law of my universe you do NOT want to violate!” It’s my job to pass that on to you, so you can stay out of that danger zone.

So when something amazing or shocking happens, rather than saying, “Wow!”, we might say “O my God!” without even thinking about the fact that we just spoke God’s name. It’s as if has become just another word in the dictionary. I know a person who constantly says that phrase – “O my God!” In fact, she would say it several times in a row when shocked by something or when scared. When that person was confronted with the fact that she was using God’s name this way, she said that she didn’t even realize that she was saying it. It flowed from her tongue without her ever thinking about the awesomeness of the God to whom she was referring. Just as a company’s whole reputation and character is summed up in its name, so God’s name and the use of it should point to how awesome and wonderful He really is.

Now, I’m getting ready to open a very big can of worms. Some companies are so desirous to piggy-back on the reputation of a well-known company that they will take the well-known company’s name and altar it just enough so that they don’t get in trouble but not altar it so much that consumers don’t recognize the product. Have you seen “Dr. Perfect” or “Dr. Thunder” instead of Dr. Pepper? This is exactly what we do with God’s name. We don’t want to get in trouble for using God’s name in vain, so we add a few letters or remove a few to make it sound not so bad. I’m talking about words like “gosh”, “golly” and “gee”. These words are derived from God’s name – look them up in the dictionary.

God’s name when used in these ways has lost its significance and glory. It no longer points to Him. It has simply become a point of punctuation and exclamation like a period or exclamation point. God says that He will punish – his words are “not hold guiltless” – anyone who uses His name in this way.