“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…” (Exodus 20:7, KJV)
By Jim Ganther
What does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain? To us moderns, it may seem to deal with what we say when stepping barefoot on a Lego® in the dark. Not so before the time of Christ. You could get stoned just for uttering the name of the Lord.
In those times, it had to do with identity. The Israelites were a people “peculiarly his own” and more to the point, known to be so. They bore the Lord’s name, and to visibly sin was to bring shame to his name—literally to take it in vain. Behavior mattered.
It still does. The commandment not to misuse God’s name still applies. It applies not only to the work we do; but to the way we do it, how we treat the people with whom we do it, and the people for whom we do it. Our work should reflect our relationship with the Father, for we bear his name.
Being a child of God is an all-the-time thing. It manifests when we formally pray, but also in the “everyday” actions that fill our waking hours. Especially in those everyday actions. Prayer is really about relationships, our relationship with the Father—an all-the-time thing.
Constant awareness of that relationship and constant care to not take it in vain is how we “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). When we realize that, when we live that, we will never see our work the same way again. We will see it as sacred, for indeed it is—the context in which we work out our salvation and foster the salvation of the world.
Of course we must take occasional breaks for “formal” prayer. But our everyday actions are just as important for building our relationship with our Father. It is rare that our colleagues see us pray in private, but they see our actions every day. Do our actions bring honor to the Father, or take his name in vain?
Pray
Heavenly Father, remind us to focus on the context of our work, and to keep it front and center in our lives.
Reflect
How do we keep the commandment to take the Lord’s name in vain alive in our workplaces and treat God’s name with reverence and honor?
Discuss
Discuss about a time when your work reflected the relationship you have with the Lord and now that impacted your coworkers.
Jim Ganther is an attorney, entrepreneur, and captain of a competitive BBQ team. He and his wife, Melissa, have seven children and three grandchildren.