The Second Commandment.
You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
What does this mean?--
Answer. We should fear and love God that we may not curse, swear, use witchcraft, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks
"Keep my commands and follow them. I am the Lord. Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the
Israelites. I am the Lord, who makes you
holy." -- Leviticus 22:31-32
We show our love to God by honoring and obeying Him in all
that we do and say. We should respect and worship Him to the greatest of our
abilities. One of the most important ways to respect God is found in the Second
Commandment. The Second Commandment concerns the holiness of God's name. We are
asked by God to honor and respect His name: "Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord, thy God, in vain." The word "vain" means false,
useless, and worthless. In other words, taking God's name in vain refers to
abusing, misusing, or cursing of God's name. When using God's name in vain, we
are not honoring or obeying God. According to the New Webster's Dictionary, the
term "to honor" means to treat with significance. How can we use
God's name on a daily basis in a positive way to show our love and respect of
Him? We do this in daily prayer, praise, and thanksgiving to Him.
We pray You, O Lord, to keep our tongues from evil and our
lips from speaking deceit, that as Your holy angels continuously sing praises
to You in heaven, so ma8y we at all times glorify You on earth; through Jesus
Christ, our Lord.
Emily Miller
Art Work: Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld ©WELS
Collect For control of the tongue, Lutheran Service Book ©
2008 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
No comments:
Post a Comment