Reverential worship!
Verse for Today: Thursday, July 25, 2013
Genesis 22:12 – “Do not lay a hand on (Isaac)”, (God) said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son.”
Obedience comes from a heart which fearfully honors the demands of God. The awesomeness of God compels us to surrender to Him and worship wholeheartedly. Abraham demonstrated such a fear and reverence of God whom he knew intimately. It was such fear that made him believe on what has been promised. The fact that the awesome God speaks to us and deals with us in simplicity and friendship doesn’t mean that we can lose our fearfulness of Him. True fear of God would make us believe on Him without doubting and obey Him without questioning. When the awesome God gave a son to Abraham in unusual circumstances, God wanted Abraham to hold Him far higher than the gift. Abraham demonstrated this conviction that the precious gift of the son was first and foremost God’s own. He realized that the true owner had every right to ask that the precious son be given back. Such intense fear of God which emanated from deep love and respect compelled Abraham to give up his best for God without hesitation. God thus became the fear of Abraham in everything he did in life. His sojourn, life in tents and faith were all based on holy fear that pervaded every iota of his heart. The way Abraham feared God and how such fear influenced his obedience is a great challenge for us to fear God. Such fearful faith makes us lovingly obey God by faith and leave the consequences of our faith to Him.
Dear friend, are you gripped with the fear and awesomeness of God? Do you allow such positive fear to control your life and actions? If so, there is no need for you to have negative fear about anything that threatens to beat your life. True fear of God would guard your heart and mind from fearing anything or anyone else in this world. Godly fear will lead us to know what our God wants from us and voluntarily give it to Him. He wants to take away that which thwarts us of our love for Him because He wants our supreme devotion and love. Abraham’s ardent love, faith and commitment made him positively respond to God with all that he had and all that he was. Today such love ought to be the prime mover in our lives of worship as did Abraham. Our response to God’s awesomeness is a mark of our intimacy with Him. Giving all that we have and are to God should be reasonable in relation to His love for us. Otherwise it tells Him that we really do not know God in His awesomeness. The fearfulness of God demanded all that Abraham had. It persuaded Abraham to give his best to God without any apprehension, confusion and fear of consequences. He knew that his God deserved far more than what he could give. Today the God of Abraham reveals Himself to us in His glory and awesomeness and asks us to respond to Him by giving Him our best. It involves all that we love in this life including our own lives without regard to consequences. He will then be pleased with your gift and bless you spiritually as He did to Abraham. When He smells the fragrance of the worship of our unworthy, broken and contrite hearts, He will honor us by making use of our lives to touch other lives for His glory.
Hebrews 12:28 – Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
Thought for Today
The quality of our worship demonstrates the extent to which we fear and respect our awesome God.
Prayer for Today
Lord! Open my eyes today to see your awesomeness and give You all that I am and have with fear, trembling, brokenness and love. Amen!
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