S) "30b I am the Lord. 31 So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the Lord.
32 You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the Lord."
Leviticus 22:30b-33 (NASB)
O) Four times in four verses, God repeats His name, all amidst reminders that He is sovereign, He is holy, and He is gracious. So, when we see in v.32, that the people were told not to profane His name, we should take particular note, since He was repeating His name four times. To profane something, is to reduce its significance. To profane something holy, means to cease recognizing it as special, set apart, and rare, but instead to treat it as regular, common, ubiquitous. Because of the uniqueness of the LORD, that He is totally different than any other god, any other creature, any other thing in all of the universe - He wants us to recognize that. If I disobey precepts set forth by the religion of a false god, then that god has no recourse against me. If I am helplessly lost, bound, or broken, then that false god has no help. If I profane the name of a false god, then there is no repercussion. However, in the LORD, all of these things are quite the opposite. Disobeying the Lord GOD has serious consequences, even in His patience. If I am helpless, He is at His most glorified when He rescues. And, if I profane His name... I rob Him of the glory that He is owed. Whether I am exalting something else up, to lofty heights that are unjustified, or I am trying to pull God down, to the levels of common things, mythologies, philosophies, and traditions - either way is profanity.
A) There is One. I must follow the commandments of One. I must keep holy, the name of One. I must put my hope in the help of One. The LORD is my God, and He is holy, even if I am not always good at treating Him as holy. I am to sanctify the LORD, not in a physical temporal way, but in my heart in an eternal way. My heart holds a throne built for One, and He will not abide insurrection.
P) Father, You reign supremely in my heart. I confess that as a determination, as a choice to submit to Your authority alone. I know there are times when I take my eyes of the importance of this principle. In those times, it is easy to forget that Your glory is at stake, that Your kingdom - at least the part of it that my heart constitutes - is under attack. Help me to recognize profanity in my life. Open my eyes to see and my ears to hear, that I may be convicted by the Holy Spirit, and inspired to change by the power of Your hand upon my life. Let the truth of Your words sink deep into my heart, to bear fruit in my life. Be glorified upon the throne of my heart, Lord GOD. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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