Preparing our hearts, minds, and souls to hear and reflect upon the Word of God.
Prayer of focus
Gracious Lord God, we are reminded that the words of our mouths are a reflection of our hearts and souls may what we say give honor and praise to You that in our speaking we do not despise You or Your word in our conversations with one another. In Jesus name. Amen
Readings
Reflection
In our ongoing study and reflection of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5 we have before us this week two commandments that speak about our relationship with God. When you read or hear Deuteronomy 5:11 “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name,” what do you hear? What did your read? How do you comprehend this command?
For me there are two elements of the commandment that need to be considered. The first is “wrongful use.” What is wrongful use? To understand “wrongful use” I need to go to the second element and that is “name.” When you use someone’s name you demonstrate a knowledge, even at a minimal level, of them. There is a relationship in knowing another person’s name. Consider swearing an oath or taking a vow and how names are used. In marriage vows the individuals commit to one another what they will do for the other person that is, how they will live their lives together: “I take you, (state name) to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.” In using one’s name we are declaring a relationship with that person. Consider how you use names in your life when you use a name what is taking place? What about in the case of using God’s name? In using God’s name what are we doing?
Second in Deuteronomy 5:12 we read “observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.” There is a difference in the Deuteronomist’s rendering of this commandment and how the commandment is presented in Exodus 20:8 which reads “remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.” he difference as you may notice is between “observe” and “remember”. What does it mean for you to observe a holiday? When I think of observing holidays, I reflect upon memories of how I participated in the holiday. Observing for me includes participation. Whereas if I remember the past event, I am remembering what I participated in or someone else participated in. Pulling this forward to today regarding the Sabbath for me it is how do I participate in keeping the Sabbath holy. How about you?