People say the name

People say the name, or variations of it without thinking.  When you stub your toe, or when things don't go your way why not just say 'shit' or 'fucking hell' instead?  All things being equal these words are more colorful and generally draw more readily the desired attention and sympathy.  To shout, "Fuck!" actually means, "look at me I stubbed my toe and it hurts," and please respond with, "awww, I'm so sorry for you."  Instead people curse God.  Its become so commonplace we no longer even notice.  Job lost everything he owned, his children were all murdered or killed, and he got some nasty skin disease which covered him with boils.  It got so bad that Job's wife literally told him to curse God so that he would be struck down in his blasphemy (Job 2:9).  But Job refused.

 

It should come as no surprise that people no longer fear God.  "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil" (Proverbs 7:4).  Without getting into the whole fire and brimstone 'thing', consider at least that there is something greater than yourself which demands respect.  More than just words, they are the greatest names ever named.  Thank goodness we don't know the true name of God, or we all would have been struck down dead a long time ago.  Did you know that whenever you see the word LORD in all caps in the Old Testament that this is a replacement for the true name of God?  Only the high priest was allowed to speak it once a year upon entering the holy of holies (Leviticus 16) during Yom Kippur which involved an incredibly complex affair of sacrifices, clothing changes, and ritual washings.  Incidentally, this is probably where the term scape goat comes from because at one point a lamb is pushed off a cliff as part of the annual atonement for sins. 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23).  The point is that the name demands reverence.  How did we get here?  It's always been that way.

 

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.' (John 1:1-5)

 

'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.' (John 3:16-17)

 

'And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.' (John 3:19-21)

 

'The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.' (John 7:7)