You shall not make wrong use of the name of the Lord your God; the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who misuses his name.

The Authorised Version has, "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."

No-one's name is to be taken lightly. The defence of one's name has been a matter of blood and vengeance before now, and in recent times we have seen people ready to sacrifice all they own to defend themselves in court against libel. Once your name, your reputation, is destroyed, you lose friends, respect, even your job. All that you once meant has become meaningless.

How much more right has God to be hurt and angry if his name is not treated with respect! And how much more we should be leaping to his defence.

"What's your team?" "Whom do you support?" Among the most vital questions a new friend will ask. (In fact, the very friendship may hinge on the answer.)

"Everton!" "Man. United!" "Crewe Alex!" Whatever your answer, your allegiances are known in the name of your team. You are identified by it, and most people stick with that chosen label for life. You will always raise a cheer for that name, and bad luck to anyone who dares to jeer at it in front of you!

When we call ourselves Christians, or followers of God, we take on another name which we must never let down. We must never guarantee in God's name to tell the truth (as in a witness box) and then tell a lie. We must never promise "before God" to do something and then not do it. To take his name in vain, to use it and let him down, is just not on.

All the major world religions recognise the third commandment. We have only to recall the Fatwah against the author Salman Rushdie, under which it became a solemn duty of all good Muslims to hunt him down and kill him to avenge the smirching of the name of the prophet Mohammed. And the name of "Allah" would never be used other than in humble respect and praise.

Yet, to our shame, the third commandment is broken by us, in the Christian world, all the time. We may chide our children for it, but how can we

blame them for doing what they hear grownups doing every day? We use the word "God" so lightly just as a part of everyday conversation. It has become a convenient expression of dismay or surprise or irritation, almost meaningless itself and carrying no connotation of worship or respect or even reference to the Lord and creator of us all.

The saving grace is that there may still be a vestige of prayer there. You drive at speed past a roadside camera and realise, "Oh God! I've been caught!" A confession of guilt? The TV room designer leads his subject in and says, "Open your eyes." There is a moment of silence, then, "Oh . . . my . . . Gard!" A prayer of amazed thanksgiving? The doctor tells you that the condition is inoperable. "Oh God!" you groan. A prayer for help?

Sometimes, God answers such prayers. There is the account of the hardened criminal, who, thrown yet again into gaol and filled with angry despair, put his head in his hands and groaned, "God help me!" The result was totally unexpected: he suddenly felt a tremendous peace and love wash over him and through him, and knew that God - the God he thought he didn't believe in - was there with him - answering a prayer that he did not even realise he was making! From that day, he was a new man.

We must beware - and be aware - of when we use God's name carelessly and casually. Overuse of any word weakens its meaning, and, if "God" becomes meaningless in our language, there is a real danger of God becoming meaningless to us in our lives. That is a punishment, and we bring it upon ourselves.

That is why we try to teach our children not to use "God" in the wrong way. We have all to remember that third commandment and think before we speak.

There is the story of the young woman who stepped back from the shop counter, turned and came face to face with, standing behind her in the queue, a purple-shirted and gaitered bishop.

"God!" she exclaimed.

"No, Madam," he countered politely. "Just one of His servants."

We smile - but we get the point.