by David Gibson<\/p>\n
I once overheard an older woman ask a middle-aged man as he entered the post office, “Are they closed?” “Lord, no!” he said. “They ain’t closed.”<\/p>\n
In a Dallas hospital waiting room, several women were passing the time in conversation. One of them mentioned that a certain man they knew was 38. “God Almighty!” one of the other women exclaimed in surprise. Later one of the group said, “O God, yeah, we used to run with each other all the time.”<\/p>\n
These remarks are all too typical these days. The use of “God,” “Lord” and variations thereof are so commonplace that hardly anyone seems to think much about it.<\/p>\n
That’s the problem. People don’t think. They speak of God without really thinking of Him<\/strong>. God’s name is used not to refer to Him in a proper manner or to appeal to Him in prayer, but His name is employed to express surprise or dismay – and sometimes it is used merely as verbal filler.<\/p>\n How do you suppose God feels about hearing His name being used so trivially and irreverently?<\/p>\n Careless speech often betrays a careless heart. How can we pray, “Hallowed be thy name,” and then misuse His name the next time we feel the need to vent our emotions?<\/p>\n I am indebted to an article on this subject for calling my attention to the following passage: “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and esteem His name<\/strong><\/em>” (Malachi 3:16 NASB).<\/p>\n “Holy and awesome is His name<\/em>” (Psalms 111:9).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson I once overheard an older woman ask a middle-aged man as he entered the post office, “Are they closed?” “Lord, no!” he said. “They ain’t closed.” In a Dallas hospital waiting room, several women were passing the time in conversation. One of them mentioned that a certain man they knew was 38.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[90,492,197,1079,1558],"class_list":["post-57831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-god","tag-profanity","tag-respect","tag-reverence","tag-speech"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2959,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-was-the-angel-that-jacob-wrestled-with-at-jabbok\/","url_meta":{"origin":57831,"position":0},"title":"Who was the angel that Jacob wrestled with at Jabbok?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who was the angel that Jacob wrestled with at Jabbok? Answer: \"Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26650,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-only-yahweh-gods-name\/","url_meta":{"origin":57831,"position":1},"title":"Is only Yahweh God’s name?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In \"The Divine Name,\" you did not explain the name YAHWEH\/YHWH and how it was taken out of the Scriptures.\u00a0 God, Lord, Father are all titles(mother, daughter, son, worker), but not His true name.\u00a0 Please explain verse Psalm 68:4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;\u00a0 Extol Him\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54593,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-malachi-316-18-saying\/","url_meta":{"origin":57831,"position":2},"title":"What is Malachi 3:16-18 saying?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey Jeffrey, Can you please help me understand what's going on in Malachi 3:16-18? Is this text saying God is pleased with those who think about Him and meditate about Him? Is it saying He rewards those who do so and fear Him? Answer: \"Then those who feared the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30261,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cant-men-give-glory-to-god-by-creating-holidays\/","url_meta":{"origin":57831,"position":3},"title":"Can’t men give glory to God by creating holidays?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a little confused by\u00a0Holiday Observances. So are we not supposed to think of religion when celebrating Easter or Christmas or holidays like that? Is it bad to associate the Bible with holidays? Answer: The problem is that these are not what God asked of men. Men made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-womans-womb-be-reopened\/","url_meta":{"origin":57831,"position":4},"title":"Can a woman’s womb be reopened?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a woman's womb be reopened? Answer: I'm not certain as to what you are trying to ask. 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