Feb
20
Written by:
Jan Ross
2/20/2009 12:58 AM
"Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." (Psalm 66:16)
The Lord has dealt with me me and taught me about the "fear of God" on and off for years. In many ways, throughout my day, He is revealing to me areas in which I have become casual toward His Sovereignty, Holiness, and Righteousness. If we would be truthful with ourselves, we would ALL feel the burden of conviction when it comes to recognizing and revering the Sovereignty, Holiness, and Righteousness of our Creator.
In the times when Temple Worship was still going on with the daily sacrifices and other rituals, etc., we can only imagine a High Priest, standing on the outside of the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies where the presence of God was manifest. As he was about to enter in, a terrible fear came over him. He was afraid. He knew that if he didn't follow the "procedure" just right that he may enter in behind the veil and possibly never come out. It is a traditional teaching that many times the High Priest even tied a rope around his ankle in case he died in the presence of such a Holy God, that he could be pulled out since no one else was able to actually enter in there.
Now since the veil is rent, we walk in and out of the presence of such a Holy God, not giving it another thought. We don't fear His power . . . we don't have a healthy respect for Him. As Christians in this generation, we have become casual about who God really is. The enemy has blinded us through the teachings of contemporary Christianity and we no longer "fear" God as we ought.
Do we tremble at the thought of His mighty hand? Yes, the veil is rent so we can come into His presence through the sacrifice of our Passover Lamb, but does that mean we can take His Holy Presence lightly? God forbid!
We are all unworthy of His love and acceptance. Any worthiness we have is only through Jesus Christ and His blood; anything else in us or about us is but dung. We are nothing . . . He is everything.
May the realization of just Who He is become so vivid in our minds that we will never take the invitation to come into His Holy presence lightly again.
Father, forgive us all for taking You for granted, for not standing in awe, for not trembling at the sound of Your voice through Your Word as it speaks to our hearts. Father, teach us as modern-day, end-times Christians to fear You as You reveal Yourself to us in a deeper and more intimate way than ever before. May Your presence be something we treasure, that we not take it for granted another instant. Father, forgive me . . . forgive Your people and teach us all. Amen!
"Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." (Psalm 33:8)
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