Ensign: OMG!

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                                        13 February 2015

September 9, 1917.

No less imposing a source than the Oxford English Dictionary (the dictionary that not only tells you what a word means and how it's formed but how it's been used over time) cites that day as the first recorded (re: written) use of the now-text abbreviation for Oh My God. Specifically, in a letter from Fleet Admiral Fisher to Winston Churchill:

... I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis -- O. M. G. (Oh! My God!) -- Shower it on the Admiralty!

A few years ago I was teaching a Sunday school class on the Ten Commandments and when we went down the list, we came to the third commandment. Exodus 20:7 -- Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain. I asked around what that meant and what were examples of that and some of the obvious like "Goddamn" came up. I was fishing for this one, OMG, and got it to make a point.

Thous halt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

It's safe to say that many of us have thought if not said this (or texted it) outright. But it's still going against God, because it's using His Name in a hollow, empty, casual, I would say kidding way. How would YOU feel if someone kept calling out your name and you turned to acknowledge them and then they looked away? Annoyed at best, bothered, and perhaps ready to ignore the caller next time?

Aesop's fable about The Boy Who Cried Wolf comes to mind, when the shepherd boy calls out there's a wolf coming twice and the townspeople come to find no wolf and resenting the shepherd boy. When he calls the third time, there really is a wolf but no one comes and the wolf we're led to expect settled into a mutton feast! (What, the shepherd boy didn't have a crock to defend his flock?)

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

This is repeated along with the other commandments in Deuteronomy 5 (specifically, this one in verse eleven) and the rest of the Bible is replete with examples of how what we say can be very powerful. In this case, with what used to be called (though it still is) blasphemy, our words don't drive God away, but they can deter others from Him and make our own walk of faith harder.

And it can be as simple as a text; with God we can never be casual.

David

P. S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you, and I hope it encourages you too. If I'm not or you want me to get lost, please let me know -- thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in praise and prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even the ones we don't know we have! Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for all of us in leadership and service here and abroad, as well as for opportunities we have and the promise of new life! I pray we all seek and have a blessed week. Amen.