“You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name” (Exodus 20:7).
God’s name is to be revered and articulated with all due respect. God’s name is never to be misused and/or spoken of carelessly, thoughtlessly or in a blasphemous manner. Rather you call Him Jehovah, Yahweh, God, Lord, Elohim, Jireh, and/or some other name that He has been given, because God is everything to all people, His many names tell us about His character and who He truly is in our lives. The Bible says, “O Lord our God, others have ruled us, but you alone are the one we worship” (Isaiah 26:13). Therefore, when you hear the Lord’s name being used with 4-letter words and spoken of with disrespect to who He is, this dishonors Him in a major way. We are never to swear by His name nor use it profanely. The Bible says, “But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:34-37).
There’s another way that we can dishonor God’s name and that is by not representing Him the right way. Many people call themselves “Christians,” but they do not live or adhere to the role. The Bible says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Being a Christian means being a follower of Christ. It involves a lifestyle change and that is one of Christ’s example while He was here on earth. Jesus showed us the way through His example in how we are to be towards the Father. Therefore, honoring God’s name means living as His Son did and that is a life dedicated to obeying God’s will. The Bible says, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them” (John 13:15-17).
Remember the Sabbath Day!
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work…” (Exodus 20:8-10).
God made a whole world in under a week. The trees, flowers, moon, stars, sun, grass, animals and even man was completed within six days. There is often a debate on rather to take the six-day creation story literally or not, but we will take the Word in the literal sense. God did not have a 24-hour period as we know of it, but He let us see in His word that evening and morning were the first day of every day. Therefore, evening sunset began the new day according to God’s clock. At the end of God’s creation, He rested on the Seventh Day and blessed it. The Bible says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:1-3).
Many may pose the question, “I thought that Sunday was the Sabbath Day?” Although the majority of the world accepts Sunday as the Sabbath day, it actually goes against what is written in scripture. According to the Gregorian Calendar, which is a solar calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, which the majority of the world uses, Sunday is the first day of the week, and has never been the seventh day of the week unlike Saturday. Therefore, if we apply the fourth commandment and the Bible as being taken literally, Saturday is the Sabbath because it is the seventh day of the week in which God told us to honor and REST. God never needed a day of rest, but He knew that we would. The Bible says, “And he said unto them, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
1.) So, what does this mean when it comes to keeping the Sabbath? We are to honor God with our heart, mind, and soul. Therefore, if we honor all other nine commandments with no problem, the Sabbath command was one that we should honor as well because God put it in place for us to rest our bodies and reverence Him. The Bible says, “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10:27)
2.) Does this mean that I cannot attend worship services on Sunday? No! The early church frequently met together on the first day of the week where the apostles spoke and broke bread together. The Bible says, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight” (Acts 20:7). Many churches hold mid-week services as well as on the weekend. Therefore, go whenever God leads you, but remember that Saturday is to be a day of rest.
God knew that man would need a day of rest for His body and He wanted time set aside for us to honor Him. Therefore, the Sabbath is a time for restoration and rejuvenation. God also desires that we take the time to reflect on His wonderful goodness and mercy for all that He has provided for us. When we praise Him, we are telling about the things that He has done for us and when we worship Him, we are telling Him about who He is.
Honor Your Parents!
“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
God included this commandment in the Ten because parents have a responsibility to bring their children up in the ways of the Lord and the children have an obligation to be obedient and follow. The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). When children learn to honor their parents, they also learn to honor the Lord. God is our Heavenly Father who provides and cares for His children. When parents follow the ordinances of God, they set an example before their children, and therefore, God expects the children to be submissive and to treat their parents with honor and respect. This is the one commandment that comes with the promise of longevity. The Bible says, “Honor thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise” (Ephesians 6:2).
Many children and young adults have found out too late that disobedience does not pay. Their lives were shortened because they were determined to live a life full of crime, drugs, had wrong associations, and other bad habits that led to an early departure. Some children were the unfortunate victims of a stray bullet or some other mishap where their lives were snatched out prematurely due to no fault of their own. Then there have been some who were disobedient to their parents/guardians, teachers, and/or other authority figures and it caused their lives to be greatly shortened. The Bible says, “The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures” (Proverbs 30:17). God desires for His children, big and small to always be obedient to Him. This includes those of an early age all the way to adulthood. Obedience is what our Heavenly Father requires so that we can have all the blessings that He has in store for us. The Bible says, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).
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