I Don't Have Silver or Gold

A man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate so that he could sit and beg. When he saw Peter and John he asked to receive alms. When he had the man's attention, Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" Acts 3:6

They didn't have any money, but they had something much more valuable. The name of Jesus Christ. And later, when questioned, Peter told them about Jesus and said, "And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all." Peter and John had the name of Jesus, "what I do have, I give to you". They carried the name. They owned the name. And it was by faith in this name that a lame man was given the ability to walk.

Anyone who is a Christian is a place that God has put his name. Listen to these Old Testament words and then a New Testament correlation:

But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. Deuteronomy 12:5

and

And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, 'Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.' 1Kings 5:5

Now this:

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

and

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3.16

So that establishes that we Christians, as God's house, his habitation, have the name, just like Peter and John had the name of Jesus.

I did a quick word study. These words are probably familiar to you: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. This comes from Deuteronomy 5:11 and is part of the 10 commandments. Most of the time, we think of this as a command to not use the name of God or Jesus in a disrespectful way, ie. swearing. But I would like to suggest to you that it means way more than that, if it means that at all.

The Hebrew word for vain in this passage is shav, which means, emptiness, falsehood, nothingness, emptiness of speech, worthlessness.

So really, I would say we could re-word the passage in Deuteronomy this way: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in falsehood or as empty or worthless, as if it is nothing.

Discounting the name of Jesus as empty, worthless or ineffective is what it means to take the Lord's name in vain. This can be done in our speech, but I think it can be done with our lives and means this: Taking the name (as a woman takes the name of her husband, whereby it becomes her own) of Jesus in falsehood or pretense, or without effect, or for nothing.

If we have taken the name of Jesus and call ourselves Christians, we must believe that the name that we have is true, worthy, powerful and effective. We carry the name of Jesus! It is our own! And we are to use it to bear fruit, doing everything we do in and by it, making a difference in people's lives.

How amazing is that? And may we, like Peter and John, know what we have and give it away to the glory of God!