The Third Commandment.


"THOU shalt 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."

How plain is this command! How many

disregard it! Little boys, as well as men

often seem to forget that the Lord will bring

them to an account for thus insulting him.

Children and youth, if you wish to be free

from this sin, shun the company of those

who can, and do, so abuse their Maker.

Read Proverbs 4:14.

If you would have a tender heart, never

utter, nor even listen to, idle words of this

kind. Remember the words, "Thou God

seest me."

A youth of fourteen years lay upon his deathbed.

All his life he had broken this commandment.

His mother stood beside him

weeping. He said to her, "You taught me

to swear, and used to laugh at it. You

now think I am dying; but I don't want

you to tell me I am." How dreadful such

a death! Would you escape it? "Put

away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse,

lips put far from thee." Proverbs 4:24.

Another youth, at the same age, used his

first profane word. It frightened him as it

came from his lips. But the example of his

playmates and continued repetition hardened

his heart, and he grew up a profane

man. He entered the army as a soldier in

the late war. Misfortune and sickness led

him to read the Bible, and reflect upon his

past life. The awful sin of swearing came

to him with such force that he has often

been heard to say that the roar of a hundred

cannon, or a peal of the loudest thunder,

did not startle or shock him as a single

oath from the lips of his comrades. So

addicted were they to profanity, that he

often refrained from conversing with them,

fearing to hear God's name taken in vain.

Could you but feel as he did then, and

ever keep a sense of the sacredness of

God's holy name in your heart, you would

never be guilty of this terrible sin. Think

of it, and read, and ponder in your mind

the words of the wise man, in Eccl. 12:1.





C. GREEN.



Exodus 20:1-17