I once had a friend named Richard, who told me that when he was growing up, every day as he left for school his mother’s admonition was, “Remember, you’re Japanese!” Though this was the 50’s and 60’s, World War II hadn’t been all that long ago, and Richard’s mom was more than aware that her child’s actions, attitude, and demeanor would be perceived as a reflection of the kind of parents who were raising him, as well as fodder for scrutinizing what Japanese people were like in general. His mom insisted that Richard’s behavior always elicit respect for his Japanese last name.

The other day I read a passage of scripture and felt the Holy Spirit’s nudge to stop and ponder the holiness of God’s name. I realized that though I’ve often meditated on the holiness of God, and sung about the “name above all names”, I’ve never pondered the HOLINESS of God’s very name.

His NAME is holy! In Hebrew, the word translated as “holy” is ko’-desh. Ko’-desh means holiness, apartness, sacredness. It means set-apartness and separateness! (Those last two are words we don’t toss around in English, do we?) God’s name isn’t like any other name ever given to man. It’s in a class of its own! Read what God’s thoughts were on how His people cared about protecting His holy name: 

Ezekiel 36:22-23 NLT – “Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. I will show how holy my great name is–the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD.

Surrounding nations had been introduced to the Israelites’ God through what they saw Him do for His children and by the laws that they saw His children obeying. He had parted the Red Sea and later the Jordan River. He’d fed them daily for 40 years with manna. He had even caused the collective shout of His people to knock down the fortified walls of an entire city! Yes, everyone for hundreds of miles around had trembled in fear of who this God was and what He could do.

Now, instead of their lives being a living testimony of all that He is, God said His people had been living in a way that had profaned His name. Though He had given His people instructions on how they should live before Him, over time they had drifted over into living like their God was far off, not really seeing or caring what they did. They had even taken on pagan customs. God was no longer feared among them. Their lives no longer displayed the character, power, or holiness of the God who had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. 

I’m sure it was not just their actions that God noticed. I believe that the awe and reverence they once held for their God’s name had slowly dissapated. I’ve known the commandment “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…” since I was a little girl, and that has always kept me from using “God”, “Jesus” and “Christ” as expletives. (I suppose it was a combination of a healthy fear of God coupled with a fear of being tattled on by my sisters who also had a healthy fear of God!) 

Perhaps taking God’s name in vain is about more than simply not using it in a curse. Maybe, since God’s very name is holy, we should let that truth be at the forefront of our thoughts whenever we speak it…even when we use it in prayer. How easily we finish off a prayer with a quick, “In Jesus’ name, amen!” I’m sure that was never meant to be code for “Signing off now, God…let’s talk again soon!”, but I’m sure that I have unintentionally used it just that way. When we speak His name in prayer, shouldn’t we be intentionally aware of the power of His name, which was given the honor of being the name above all names, and the name to which the Bible says every knee will one day bow?

Father God, Your name IS holy! Please make me always aware that because I am Yours, my life should be a living essay about who You are! I want my life, my conversation, and my prayer to always be a reflection of the holiness of my God, and the holiness of Your name.

Thank You Abba, I love You!