Taking the Lord’s Name In Vain

Exodus 20:7 “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.”

When I was little, about six years old, I had a babysitter after school. The babysitter I had, ALWAYS took the Lord’s name in vain. I heard her it say it over and over again, so monkey see, monkey do. I started taking the Lord’s name in vain. I did it over and over again. Well my mom heard me say it and told me to stop saying it. She said she didn’t want me to say it ever again. She told me she was going to wash my mouth out with soap, if she caught me taking the Lord’s name in vain.

I was a little heathen back then. I wasn’t saved yet. So you know what’s going to happen next. I said it again. I was sitting in the bathtub talking to my sister. I used the Lord’s name in vain. I don’t know if my mom was just coming into the bathroom or passing by, but she caught me saying it. She came flying in the bathroom. She whisked me out of the tub. She yelled at me and told me she had warned me about that. I tried to justify myself by saying, “I was just talking about God.” My mom wasn’t having it. She stuck a bar of soap into my mouth. I can taste that soap right now as I’m writing this. It has been over forty years ago, and I can still taste the soap. But I have never taken the Lord’s name in vain ever since. Not one time. Not ever. I can’t even read it, if I’m reading a novel. I really learned my lesson.

People tend to take lightly, the commandments God has given us. It drives me absolutely crazy when I hear friends and relatives take the Lord’s name in vain. I don’t think people even know they are doing it. But I hear them doing it and when they do, it sends a chill up my spine. I had to endure soap in my mouth for saying it. But what does God say about taking His Name in vain?

Reading the verse, Exodus 20:7, there is a warning along with the commandment. A warning! “…for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” Yikes. This commandment is part of the ten commandments. There are only ten commandments and most of them are fairly straight forward: “thou shall not kill, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not steal, thou shall not bear false witness…” The first three verses are about our treatment of God. Not taking the Lord’s name in vain is the third of those verses, right after “having no other god’s,” and “not making idols for ourselves.” God’s not going to “leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” God attaches a consequence for taking His name in vain. He takes the abuse of His name fairly seriously.

God’s a big God. He’s the Master of the Universe. He is all knowing, all seeing, all powerful. So why is taking His name in vain such a big deal? I believe it’s respect. A few years back my kids and I were reading a novel about prairie times. One of the characters in the book was a young girl. She kept calling her mom, “ma.” Her mother didn’t like it and viewed it as a way of disrespecting her mother. The mother disciplined her daughter for this infraction. After we read that part of the book, my daughter started using “ma,” instead of calling me “mommy.” I didn’t like that at all. Right after we read this part of the book, she starts calling me “ma?” It felt disrespectful. I corrected her. It took a few times of her calling me ma and then me taking something away from her, that she finally got the picture. (No, I didn’t wash her mouth out with soap!)

For me to be so upset when my child calls me ma, imagine what it does to God when we take His name in vain? He loves us. He sent His Son to the Earth to die for our sins. He rose from the dead. He calls all people to Himself to be saved. He cares for us. He knows the number of hairs on our head. He wants us to spend eternity with Him when we die. He is good all the time. He is good to us. He deserves our respect. He deserves at least that much. Don’t take His name in vain. And if that’s not enough for you, He says you will not be left unpunished if you take His name in vain. It’s easy for me not to take His name in vain. I got my mouth washed out with soap. As one who suffered for that sin, I am warning you, my mom administered the punishment, what will the punishment be if God administers it?