May 25, 2022

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 

Exodus 20:7

Several years ago I gave my brother a birthday gift. I had saved up chore money and, with the help of my parents, bought him a remote controlled helicopter. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world to give a big brother, my heart was deeply invested in it. So naturally I was heartbroken after my brother broke it and casually shrugged it off. What was “no-big-deal” to him was deeply offensive to me. The gift that I had invested time, money, and affection in was handled lightly, and destroyed without consequence. This is a picture of the sort of covenantal callousness prohibited in the 3rd Commandment. The taking of one’s name usually occurs in the legal world these days; adoption, and marriage come readily to mind. The taking of God’s name is nothing less than our reception of resting upon Jesus as he is offered in the Gospels (WSC 86). To take that name in vain is to claim the promises of God contained in it without any concern for repentance in the present; it is to ignore the claims of Jesus on our private and public behavior. God’s name is a gift freely given to all who are in Christ, we cannot handle it lightly and destroy it without also grieving He who gave it. Consider what God has done to make us His people, and what the depth of history reveals concerning his affection for us - let us pursue faithfulness to the Lord who gave everything that we might be found in him!

 — MATT ALLHANDS