Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Leviticus 24, verse 16,

whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.

All the congregation shall stone him.

The sojourner, as well as the native,

when he blasphemes the name, shall be put to death.

This is a sobering verse to say the least.

Humbling verse, overwhelming in a sense, that the penalty for blasphemy is death.

And as I reflect on this verse, I am overwhelmed in a fresh way by the reverence and awe and

honor that is indeed due the name of the Lord. And I'm convicted. I'm convicted when I think about how I can in this world

hear God's name taken in vain, God's name misused, God's name even just used casually,

not even just to hear that.

I can do that if I'm not careful in my own life.

And so hear these things even speak this way in ways that do not honor and revere the name of the Lord.

I mean, I can watch a movie or listen to a song,

and if I'm not careful, I can hear God's name taken and made, not even notice it. Like, not even

notice it. That's not a good place to be. That's not a good place for any one of us to be. So let me

encourage you to be sensitive to the name of God, to the way you

use the name of God, the way I use the name of God, that we would not be casual. We would realize

who we're talking about. When we pray, we'd realize who we're talking to. This is at the core of

just dry religious rote routine. It's a casual

approach to the name of God. It's a, hey, let's pray. We just start saying some words. We don't

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