A warning for our mouths

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 20:1-17


TO CHEW ON: "You shall not take the name the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:7

In our culture where oaths and minced oaths [expressions based on profane or taboo terms that have been altered to reduce the objectionable characteristics of them] flow as freely as water, it is a good thing to remind ourselves of how serious it is to "take God's name in vain."

But what exactly does that mean? Various Bible translations and paraphrases express it as:
"misuse" God's name (NLT, NIV 1984).
"use the name of the Lord your God carelessly" (God's Word 1985).
"idly utter" (Douay Rheims).
"You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is lightly or frivolously, or profanely]" (Amplified).
"No using the name of God your God in curses or silly banter" (Message).

Bible commenters agree that this means we are not to use God's name
- to swear falsely as in undergirding a lie.
- to swear as a means of enforcing acts of witchcraft and conjuring.
- to swear trivially as in using God's name lightly during everyday conversation.


I like how Matthew Henry places this commandment in its context of number three in the first four that deal with our duty to God:

• Commandment One: We are to worship God and Him alone.
• Commandment Two: Our worship is to be spiritual and not given to images, pictures, superstitions or human inventions for God. 
• Commandment Three: Our worship is to be serious and reverent. 
• Commandment Four: One day in seven us to be allotted for worship.

Today I feel warned about the seriousness of loose speech. Even minced oaths like gosh, gee, geez, golly, cripes, etc. have no place in the daily speech of one who is determined not to take God's name in vain.


PRAYER: Dear God, please grow in me true respect for You—such respect and reverence that avoids any shade of disrespect and vain misuse of Your name. Amen.


MORE: More on minced oaths

"As blood-bought children of God we should be very thoughtful about the words that we use, and very careful in our choice of words. This is especially true at times of surprise or amazement or sudden pain or disappointment when we tend to burst out with an exclamatory word or comment. Those of the world blurt out all kinds of inappropriate words, not giving much thought to what they are really saying. All such careless speech and profane cursing should find no place on the lips of a redeemed saint: "Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3)...."

The article goes on to name a variety of minced oaths and explain their origins. Read all of "Minced Oaths."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible,
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Do our lives cast a shadow on God's name?

"You are the man" - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Samuel 12:1-15a

TO CHEW ON: " … by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme…" 2 Samuel 12:14

David's outrage at the unfairness of the rich man stealing the poor man's sheep in Nathan's story, and his moralistic prescription, show how callous and blind to his own sin his heart had become.

Nathan's response to him: "You are the man!" must have felt like a plunge into cold water for David - Oh, oh! Busted!

It was during the time that David was cleaning this up and getting back into a good relationship with God that he wrote Psalm 51. It shows the depth of his regret and the extent of his repentance.

However, life events can't be undone no matter how sincere the "sorry" is. There are consequences. For David they were serious:

• Killing and death would characterize his family (2 Samuel 12:10).

• He would be humiliated by someone ("from your own house… your neighbour") having his way with David's own harem (2 Samuel 12:11,12.

•  Because his actions brought disgrace on all God's followers and gave reason "to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme," the child Bathsheba had conceived with him would die (2 Samuel 12:14).

Thinking especially of the last one, these many years later it's not unusual for the sin of prominent Christians to cause God's enemies to continue that blasphemy. Just a few weeks ago another example of such a case came to light in Canada when a senator—a married family man and pastor of a church—was outed as having had an affair with a 16-year-old girl. All of Christendom gets a black eye from these cases.

However, before we get too self-righteous about this, we do well to examine our own lives for habits, reactions, and incidents that have contributed to bringing disgrace on God and His people. Things like lashing out in anger, spreading gossip, telling questionable jokes, small cheats in business or relationships are just a few examples of things that can be just as damaging to God's holy name as outright adultery (Romans 2:21-24).

If we have such things hiding in our lives, instead of waiting for a Nathan to come along and expose us, let's ask God to show us where we're kidding ourselves that everything is just fine. And then let's make it right—apologize, repay what isn't rightfully ours, clean up our mouths, end the questionable relationship—do all we can to thwart the enemy's opportunities to blaspheme because of us.

PRAYER: Dear God, please open my eyes to the sins in my own life that could cause Christians and non-Christians to disrespect You. Help me to deal with my own sins instead of judging others. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The unpardonable sin

"Jesus Teaching" (from jesuswallpaper.org)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 3:20-35

TO CHEW ON: " ' … but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.' " Mark 3:29

Jesus' great popularity on the heels of his healings and teaching brings out, along with the crowds, his family, prepared to act as the men in white coats. It seems they think Jesus is not quite all there—mentally deranged, crazy, "out of His mind"—and they're prepared to rescue Him from Himself.

His successful exorcisms prompt another response from the scribes had Pharisees. They say, " 'He has Beelzebub. By the father of demons He casts out demons' " - Mark 3:22.

Jesus ignores His family. He uses what the scribes and Pharisees say as a teachable moment for His disciples, alerting them to the gravity of crediting to Satan what is actually the work of the Holy Spirit. He calls it the unpardonable sin: " '… but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation' " - Mark 3:29.

I've heard this same charge against the work of the Holy Spirit made by teachers these days. Perhaps you have too. Maybe we've made it ourselves about the works and ministries we don't understand, that go against how we feel the Holy Spirit works these days.

Whether these thoughts and sentiments are unforgivable in others is entirely God's department to decide. But we must guard our own thoughts and attitudes, and be careful to avoid calling satanic the signs, wonders, and experiences attributed to the Holy Spirit that we don't understand, that don't fit with our (often faith-starved) theology.

PRAYER: Dear God, lack of seeing the supernatural has affected my concept of what the normal Spirit-empowered Christian life should look like. Please open my eyes to the reality of Your power over nature and the spiritual realm. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What your speech says about the state of your heart

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 15:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "'But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.'" Matthew 15:18

I wonder if the Pharisees ever regretted criticizing Jesus' disciples for their non-hand-washing? The hand-washing they were talking about was part of Jewish oral tradition which had developed into a set of extra rules to help preserve the integrity of the law. The hand washing here was not for cleanliness but was a religious ritual (J. Lyle Story, notes on Matthew, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1317).

Jesus, recognizing this clash as a teaching moment, went to great lengths to explain to His disciples how silly this rule was in the scheme of things. Food that was touched and brought to the mouth with unwashed hands was soon eliminated, He said. But the real defilement came from what issued out of their mouths in speech. That originated in their thoughts - Matthew 15:17-19.

And here all of us, listening in these many generations later, are implicated. Who of us hasn't entertained thoughts of one or more of:

• murder (hatred - 1 John 3:15)?

• adultery?

• fornication [porneia compare pornography. Illicit sexual intercourse… The word describes both physical immorality and spiritual, signifying idolatry - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1318 -- emphasis added]?

• thefts?

• false witness (lying, non-verbal deception)?

• blasphemy ("slanders" - NASB) [Blasphemia: 1. Slander, detraction, speech injurious to another's good name; 2. impious and reproachful speech injurious to divine majesty]?

And so we agree with the prophet who said: "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked—who can know it?" - Jeremiah 17:9.

And we echo the confession of Paul: "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" - Romans 7:24,25.

PRAYER: Dear God, before I disdain the scribes and Pharisees, I'd better examine my own heart for the defilement living in me, proved by my speech. Thank You for Jesus' blood that washes away my sins. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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