Last Lessons #46 – GOD’S NAME

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”  Exodus 20:7

When you were a child, did your mother wash out your mouth with soap when you said bad words?  Mine did.  But it wasn’t only “cuss words”, it was any time I or my siblings took the Lord’s name in vain.  That got the most scrubbing.  I am so glad that I was taught this third commandment when I was a child, because I never got in the habit of using the name of the Lord in a wrong way.  I feel sorry for children today who have not been taught as I was.

Even now, it offends me when I hear someone take the name of the Lord in vain.  That means that I am often offended these days.  Books, movies, TV, plays, and so many conversations are guilty of using the Lord’s name wrongly.  Non-Christians don’t know any better, but Christians should.  The Bible is clear on how we should speak about the Lord.  Job knew that he should keep his mouth shut (Job 42:1-6).  Isaiah knew that his lips were unclean (Isaiah 6:5-7).  God cares about his name, and because he cares, we should care.  We are to have reverence for God’s name. 

There are lots of books written about reverence for God, but the one book I recommend is R.C. Sproul’s book THE HOLINESS OF GOD.  It helped me understand more fully the reverence and awe with which I should approach God.  I must not be flippant with God in any way.  He’s not my buddy, nor my servant, nor my therapist.  He is the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe and all that there is within it – including me. 

If I take the name of the Lord in vain, he declares me guilty of breaking his command.  Therefore, I want to be careful not to use certain expletives:

O my God!

God damn!

Jesus Christ!

Christ!

I was taught as a child, and I taught my children, not to take the name of the Lord in vain.  Nobody wants to have their mouth washed out with soap.  But infinitely more important than that, nobody wants to stand guilty before the Lord in breaking this commandment.  

 

 

Last Lessons #45 - IDOLS

 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”  Exodus 20:4-6

The second commandment is the one that most people in the western world would say that we do not break.  We do not make carved images and worship them.  When I used to visit India, what disturbed me most was the real idol worship there.  There were shrines all over the place where people worshiped carved snakes, or rats, or even phalanx symbols.  These idols were served by people bringing flowers or food to them.  I loved the people of India, but I hated the idol worship there.   

We do not have that kind of idol worship in the USA today, although there used to be totem poles that were carved idols for native Americans.  Today we have different kinds of idols.  We worship “things”.  A “some-thing” is more important to us than the one and only true God.  If we don’t have faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whom we cannot see, we look for some “thing” that we can see.  It has always been that way.  Even in the Old Testament the Israelites worshiped a golden calf as their god because they could not see the true God and his representative, Moses, was out of sight. 

Today we have made our idols respectable whether we can see them or not.  Some “respectable” idols that we cannot see are recreation, experiences, and appetites (Ephesians 5:5).  But the idols that the Bible mentions most are those we can see. Just to name a few:

Possessions

“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

Luke 12:16-21 goes on to tell us the parable Jesus told about the man who amassed possessions but lost his own soul.  He made possessions his idol.

Family

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:37-39

We are to love our children.  There is probably no greater human love than the love parents have for their children.  But when we place our children above God they become our idols. 

Money

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”  Luke 16:13

We all need money to live, but when money becomes that for which we live, it has become our idol.  The goal of many today is to make money.  They want to make money because money gives them power.  They think that money can buy them into or out of anything they want.  They worship what money can do for them. 

One thing I have learned through the years is that my Lord will provide whatever I need to live.  (Luke 12:22-34).  My goal is to seek first his kingdom and everything I need will be added to me.  A huge lesson I learned came from reading a book called THE TREASURE PRINCIPLE by Randy Alcorn.  It’s short and easy to read and I recommend it highly.  Sometimes I have said that I want to die broke.  I mean that.  I can’t give all my money away yet because I need enough to live on for the time being, but I have made provision for my funeral, and I have made a will to give all that I own to my family and my charities.

I want to be careful about idols since what I worship now will affect my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. 

“You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” 

I’m sure you agree.

Last Lessons#44 – NO OTHER GODS

“You shall have no other gods before me.”  Exodus 20:3

There is no more important lesson for anyone to learn than that there is only one God and that he is the God of the Bible.  He is the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  I am so grateful that I learned that lesson early in my life.  I learned who God was by reading, studying, and being taught the Bible.  I am still learning every day. 

The first of the Ten Commandments is that there is only one Lord, one God and that nothing is to be put before him. 

Recently, one of my fellow senior residents on hearing that I had been a missionary in Africa, asked me, “Why do you try to proselytize those people?  They are happy with their own gods.”  Sadly, that is the attitude of many today.  They think that people who do not know the true God are happy with substitutes.  Christians know better, of course.  Our world today wants all religions to be equal.  Many Christians do not want to say that all religions are not equal because 1) we do not want to argue, 2) we do not want to offend, 3) we want them to like us, and 4) we do not know what the Bible says.  We Christians should remember that the Ten Commandments are not “Ten Suggestions,” and that God expects us to tell others what God has said about himself. 

Christians must not say that all religions are the same.  We must not say that it’s ok for you to worship your god and I will worship mine.  And we must not keep silent in order to keep peace. 

I recently heard that there is a church called “The House of One” being built in Germany where Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship in separate parts of the same building at the same time to show that those religions are equal.  I wonder what God thinks of that!  Actually, I know what God thinks of that!  He made it clear when one of the scribes asked Jesus which commandment was the most important and Jesus answered:

“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord our God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”  Mark 12:29-30

There is only one true God – the God of the Bible.  All other gods are false, no matter how many people believe in them.

It’s hard sometimes to tell people, especially our friends and relatives whom we love, the truth.  But if we really love them, we must tell them the truth – there is only one God – and we all need him. 

In the place where I live, there are a number who will die soon.  All of us who live here are old!  I am asking God the Holy Spirit to enable me to reach out to some of them before it is too late.  Will you pray for me to love these people and to give them Bibles, books, and words that help them know that there is only one God and that he sent his Son to save them?

Last Lessons#43 - HUMBLE HEROES

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6

I am hoping to continue with the Ten Commandments in blogs to come, but I want to take this week to tell you about some people I know.  These are men whom I have come to know over the years.  They are African church leaders who have tirelessly held to the truths of the gospel when so many church leaders in other parts of the world have caved to a liberal worldview.  My African friends have stood strong in spite of years of personal suffering, religious and political opposition.  God put the idea in my mind to publish the stories of these men because I have known and worked with them for many years.  So I asked fourteen of them to write their stories for me to publish in a book called HUMBLE HEROES.  I knew that their stories would never be told unless somebody else told them.  They take the verse below to heart.

“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth.”  Proverbs 27:2

The men were willing to write their stories and send them to me to edit.  Some of their stories brought me to tears as I read how they came from such poor, even pagan, beginnings to the place where they are now church leaders.  After the editing, Rafiki staff artistically designed the book and included pictures.  HUMBLE HEROES is now done and it is beautiful.  We made sure to send soft copies to the writers first. 

After receiving his copies one of the “heroes” made me happy with the following message:

Julie personally delivered to me my copies of Humble Heros right in my office. You can imagine my joy when I open that book to page 16, saw a picture that resembles me, and saw my story in print on the opposite page! You made me very happy, Rosemary! Thank you! Thanks for being a person of your word!

Hard copies (soft copies were only for Africa) are published now as an attractive coffee table book and you can order HUMBLE HEROES from Rafiki’s website. (Click Here)

So many of my “ideas” were mistakes and ended in failure.  But this one is sure to encourage my friends in Africa and strengthen the resolve of church leaders throughout the world to stand for the gospel.  Nothing makes me happier than that!