To No Purpose, No Result – The Third Commandment

Happy New Year!

To No Purpose, No Result

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.”

God invites us to take His Name upon us; and He has a distinct purpose in mind. “Not in vain” means, literally, “to no purpose,” “with no result.” When we take the Name of the Lord upon us, we enter into the divine economy and must submit to His purpose.

God is determined to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory, and He has appointed us to go and make that glory known. His purpose in bringing us to Himself through Jesus is that we might be fruitful unto His glory.

There is work to do. We are a people on a mission for the Lord. We cannot merely take His Name upon us and then do nothing in accord with the purpose of the Lord.

Take His Name, by all means, but take it with a purpose–His!

What does it mean for God to make His glory known through you? At home? At work? In all your relationships, roles, and responsibilities? How conscious are you of living for the glory of God each moment of the day?

Lord, what a high privilege and calling! Today, make me more conscious…

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.