When we speak the name of Jesus, His name means many things to us at different times. One day He is our Strong and Mighty Tower, one He is our Comfort, another we will find Him being our Healer. When I speak the name of Jesus I feel it in my heart. Just to say His name is an honor. I know I can speak His name and He is there for me. In my time of joy or in my time of pain, I can find Him by just speaking His name. When I am afraid I can call out to Him and without a doubt know that He is there.
His name means everything to me today. It is in His name that I find who I really am. It is in His name that I have found life.
Yesterday as my husband and I were blessed to eat out we had a couple come in and sit next to our table. As they began speaking loudly, they grabbed our attention. The woman soon spoke the Lord's name in vain and it sent shivers through me. I found myself looking at her. I found myself fighting mad to hear someone take His name in such a way. I thought to myself, "How could anyone speak our Lord's name in such a way?" It was then that I heard the Lord speak to me. I heard Him above a whisper, but I heard Him loud and clear. I heard, "You too my daughter have taken my name in such a way before." I could have cried right there feeling those words in my heart.
See, before I became a Christian, in my younger days I too took His precious name in vain. I had heard it said all my life and never had a second thought about it. I didn't know Him then, and I didn't know how sweet His name was.
I was a sinner in need of a Savior, and today I am still a sinner, but by His grace I have found my Savior. I no longer take His name in vain, but I sin against Him in other ways. We all do if we are honest.
That's when it hit me on the way home that I had no right to judge this girl, or speak badly of her. Maybe she was me 17 years ago not knowing the love of God. Not knowing His son Jesus Christ. Maybe she was me living her life thinking she was doing just fine.
I have prayed for this girl. I have prayed that she would know the precious love of Jesus. I pray that she too will come to know Him by name.
As Christians we can often times forget we are still sinners. We can begin forget who we once were before we knew Jesus. I didn't grow up knowing Christians. I didn't grow up in church. I had never entered through the doors of a church with my parents. As a Christian I have no right to judge another for what they do not know. God came into my life through my husband that he sent to show me just who He is. We are not all going to come to know Jesus when we are 5 like my son, or when we are 16. Sometimes we don't come to know Him until later in our lives, and even then we may not know Him until before our last breath. We come to know Jesus when we are ready to give up ourselves. We will come to know Him at times when we have lost all and He is all we have left. We can find Him in the middle of the most joyous season in our lives, or maybe someone will show us who He is in our darkest hour.
For me to hear this girl speak of His name as she did only reminds me of how I need to be a light in the world. I need to show others who He is by my words and my actions. My life needs to shout His name. Until this whole world hears His name and knows who He is we have no reason to stop calling out His name.
Lord, help me to live my life in such a way that You are seen in all I do. Lord, speak through me, live through me, and touch others through me. May my life be Yours, and may the world know You before it is everlasting too late.
Exodus 20:7 "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."
Ephesians 5:1-2 "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma."
