Prepare For Life

I wonder if most of us in the contemporary church have misunderstood the third of the Ten Commandments. I think I have for many years. Exodus 20:7 commands, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. We think this clearly refers to our speech and the fact that we should not swear using the Lord’s name or speak of Him in a disrespectful or cavalier way. His name is too precious to throw around with irreverence. Our inner response to this commandment may be, “Hmmm, I’ve got some work to do here.” or maybe, “I’m usually ok with this, just a slip up now and then.” So we quickly move on to the next commandment working through them like a checklist.