What is His Name?

[And God spoke all these words, saying:] "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes in name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)

This is the Second Commandment to some Christian faiths. From this point forward, your numbering system will be off if you aren't Lutheran (Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian).  

Yesterday we continued our dive into the 10 Commandments, what they say, mean and how we act out what following it means. I used to read Jewish World Review daily, a website that has news, editorials and articles collected. The following is a sample of a devotion written by a rabbi from that site on prayer life as a member of the Jewish faith:

"Each morning, I praise G‑d for everything He created—from the breathtaking morning riverside scene to the pulse and breath that fills my every living moment. I describe to G‑d my worries, my requests. I beg Him, plead with Him, praise Him, and love Him in a series of mental and emotional workouts."

Note that some Jews follow the commandment to the letter of the law - not even spelling out the name of God, also known as Yahweh. Yahweh comes from "I Am," God's response to Moses when asked, "“If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” (Exodus 3:13-14) The spelling of it in Hebrew translates to "YHWH" according to online references.

So, how can we violate the use of the name of God and how can we honor his name? These will be questions we look at during the week in our devotions.

Pray with me: Gracious God, Heavenly Father, we pray our week is a good week in how we honor you and lift you up each day. We pray that you watch over each of us as we walk, sit, stand and lay down and that we lift up our concerns, hopes and wants/needs to you. In Christ's name, Amen.