We have taken Christ’s name in vain.
How? If you’re like me, when we consider the Third Commandment, our first thought is using God’s name as a cussword. However, it’s so much more than this.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).
Do we not make His name empty when we claim to be Christians yet do not represent His character? When we pray in Jesus’ name and still cling to sin, isn’t that yet another way? And when we say that we are looking for Christ’s second coming but still do not prepare, are we really guiltless?
Too often we focus on forms of religion, on what others see. That makes us good Christians, right? No. When we put our focus on these things, we lose sight of Jesus. When we lose sight of Jesus, we cannot represent Him to the world. We become comparable to the Pharisees of Christ’s day; therefore, His warning to them also applies to us:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:23-28).
Our Spiritual journey is compared to Israel’s history. As I read Jeremiah recently, I became convinced that these messages are for us today. Just like the prophet’s people, we lose sight of Jesus and wander after gods like money, fashion, and appetite. When warned and called to repent, we say, “Where have we failed? We are Seventh-day Adventists; we go to church every Sabbath. We don’t kill, steal, or commit adultery. We are looking forward to Jesus’ coming. Why would God judge us?”
“Not every one that saith unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).
Yes, perhaps we don’t kill or steal or commit adultery. Maybe we do go to church every Sabbath and look forward to Jesus’ Second Coming. But when we refuse to surrender and allow self, pride, and our idols of wealth, fashion, and appetite to block our view, we will hear those words, “Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”
“Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do these abominations’? Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 7:8-11). Are we really delivered to do these things? Did God really send His Son so that we can continue in our own course? No, of course not. “I will also save from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the corn and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you” (Ezekiel 36:29).
“Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall and not arise? Why then is this people Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into battle. Yea, the stork in heaven knoweth her appointed time; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgement of the LORD” (Jeremiah 8:4-7).
As Spiritual Israel, we have lost sight of Christ, degraded, and slidden back. We have come to enjoy certain aspects of the world. Its music, entertainment, and many of its foods are now commonplace. Many would rather condone these things than condemn them. We like our idols, so we justify our course by minimizing what we don’t like. We do not realize how close we are to judgment because even the smallest sin cuts us off from God. By our sin, our discernment is destroyed.
“How do ye say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men were ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them” (Jeremiah 8:8-9)?
We certainly don’t want that said about us. Yet if we continue in our own course it will be.
God in His love and mercy is warning and pleading with us. He wants us to wake up to our condition so we can buy of Him gold tried in the fire and white raiment. He wishes for us to anoint our eyes with eyesalve so we can see (Revelation 3:18).
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:19-20).
Christ is still mediating for us, and He is still our only strength. To try to come back to Him in our own strength is impossible. Thankfully, He has overcome, and He will help us to follow His example. He will give us strength to focus on Him.
“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like a heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
Shall we not follow the advice in Hebrews 12:1-3?
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Since Christ endured the cross for the joy of knowing that we have the chance to be saved, certainly we ought to lay aside our pet sins and idols and run the race. Let us consider Him so that we do not faint. He has warned us, and He wants us to choose right instead of wrong. Let us not hurt Him any longer.
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
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Bio: Bethany Wickham is a homeschool student in 8th grade. Jesus is her life.
