#3 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

Oh...I know all too well the over-extension of myself...

The idea of misrepresenting the Name of Christ is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. There has been a lot of Christians poorly re-presenting Christ in the world today.

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. ~Deuteronomy 5:11

Let us look at the first part of this command:
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,

The Lord told us way back when that we are not to take His Name in vain. For too long I believe we (both the believer and non-believer) have interpreted that to mean don't drop the name of Jesus Christ as an expletive...

Many of our English translations have it worded - you shall not misuse The Lord's Name. God's Word Translation says "Never use the name of the LORD your God carelessly" The Basic English Bible says "You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose".

I have come to think of it more in this way:

When my wife and I got married, she took my name. My name became her name. My family became her family. The lineage, history, and inheritance of my family name became hers.

The word vain is (by definition) a characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance...excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements.

Taking the Lord's Name means to put His name on our self (as in the covenant of marriage)...but not to do so with a sense of self-importance or pride...

(I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this...but I think you can track with me) ;)

When we are married to Christ (Romans 7:4), we take His name upon ourselves. But, our reasons for doing so must be in humility - because while we were sinners, He died for us. Our becoming one with Him (in covenant marriage) and taking His name - is it out of selfish ambition (get out of Hell free), or is it to bring glory and honor to His name because, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

I wonder if I might start a series on the Big 10...starting with #3 of course....

The second part of this passage is quite gripping in light of understanding the first part this way.
the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

The word 'unpunished' (in Hebrew is naqah) can be more accurately read 'hold him guiltless'.

It isn't about doing or saying the right things. It IS about having the right heart. The religious spirit in the world will tell you that this command is pointing a finger at anyone who says an OMG or a "gosh darnit"...or shouts about the name of Jesus when they hit their finger with a hammer. And, while these probably aren't the best idea, I don't think this is what The Father is talking about.

He is, however, giving a stark warning to those who chose to be in His Family. This warning is that we had better be careful to take His name upon ourselves realizing that we do so for His Glory.

We don't enter into His Kingdom for our sake or comfort...it is for His joy.

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say,
“If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
~1 Corinthians 1:26-31

God chooses the humble and meek to propagate His Gospel. He alone determine what men and measures serve the purposes of His glory. Often it is the humble Christian, though poor as to this world, who has more true understanding of the gospel, than those who have made the study of Scripture their life-call.

And even young children have gained such knowledge of Divine truth as to silence the enemy. The reason is, they are taught of God.

The greatness of this design is, that no flesh should glory in His presence. It is by the sovereign choice and regenerating grace of God, that we are in Jesus Christ by faith. Jesus is to us, by God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; all we need, or can desire.

So that by his word and Spirit and from his fullness and treasures of wisdom and knowledge, we may receive all that will make us wise unto salvation, and fit for every service to which we are called. It is strangely comforting to realize that my calling is beyond what I am capable of. It is not a matter of growing into faith and salvation, it's a matter of realizing that without My Father, I could not do it.

We are fully liable to just punishment. He makes us righteousness because of our Faith. We are depraved. He is our redemption, so that He may in the end be made complete.

And this is, that all flesh, may know that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ~Romans 5:10

Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. ~Romans 15:7

Why then do we take The Name of the Lord? It is all for, and for always, His Glory.

Therefore, God elevated [Jesus] to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~Philippians 2:9-11