Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Honor His Name

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord's name is to be praised. 
—Psalm 113:2-3

There is power in God's name, and we are to honor it. Moses said, "For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God" (Deuteronomy 32:3).

Elijah knew the power of the name of the Lord as he faced off with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. He told the people, "Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God" (1 Kings 18:24).

Not only does God want us to honor His name, but He wants us to invoke His holy name in our hour of need. Proverbs 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."

Job knew the power of that name when tragedy hit. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).

Have you ever noticed that when someone speaks your name, you hear it? You know your name. In the same way, God pays attention when we speak His name. But we use God's name in vain—that is, use it in an empty, idle, insincere, or frivolous way—more often than we may realize. We use God's name in vain with little phrases such as, "Oh, my gosh!" We take God's name in vain when we use it for personal gain or to sell things. We use God's name in vain when we say, "Praise the Lord!" or "God bless you" when we don't really mean it.

God knows His name. He hears when we speak it. So let's not take it in vain; let's honor it instead.

Copyright © 2010 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

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