Adventure Bible Family Devotions

God’s Nicknames?

Roly! Roly-poly!” Stephanie called. “Jeez, where is that dog?” Her dad gave her a look as they searched around their campsite in the Smoky Mountains. Suddenly they heard a muffled bark. Stephanie scrambled up the mountainside. “Roly!” Following his barks, she reached a crevice and squeezed through. She found herself in a cave, with Roly jumping on her legs. “There you are.” She picked him up, then gasped. “Gah, this cave is huge!”

When she wriggled out, her dad said, “I’m glad you found Roly, sweetheart. But I’m concerned about your language. ‘Jeez’ and ‘Gah’ sound like nicknames for Jesus and God—like me calling you Steph. You know how God feels about people using his name the wrong way. Maybe you should use other words to express yourself.” Ruffling her hair, he looked into the crevice. “So, what do you say we do some spelunking?”

She gave him a puzzled expression that made him laugh. “That means cave exploring,” he said.

Stephanie looked sideways at him. “Well, Dad, maybe we both need to start using other words to express ourselves!”

People once thought God’s divine, personal name (Yahweh) was so special, they wouldn’t say it at all. Do you always treat God’s name as holy?

Bible Verse: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. – Exodus 20:7

Life in Bible Times: Scribes considered God’s divine name so holy that they always wrote it in a special way. In the Old Testament of many Bibles today, this special name is printed in small capital letters: LORD.