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The Character of Reverence For the week of February 17, 2003 Into Thy Word - The Character of Reverence Is the Character of Reverence working in you? Here is how you can find out. Take a careful look at this character and fruit of Reverence from Gods most precious Word, by examining the passages below. Now ask yourself:
· Here are positive examples from Scripture (Ex. 3:1-6; 1 Sam. 26:6-12; Psalm 34:1-14; Isa. 6:1-8; Rev. 4:6-11) · Here are negative examples from Scripture (2 Sam. 16:20-23; Mal. 1:6-14; Matt. 21:33-43; Luke 23:39-43) Reverence (Psalm 89:5-18; Proverbs 1:7, 29: 3:5-9; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Peter 2:13-14; 3:15a) is the true response that leads to worship to all that come before God. It is recognizing and honoring the authority of God with awe and fear because He is God, and He is more awesome than anything or anyone--period. It also means respecting people, not just because of their position and authority, but as brothers and sisters in the Lord, regardless of their personality, and knowing He loves them too! Hatred, disdain, disloyalty, and contempt are the opposites. With these attitudes, we will flee from Gods love and precepts, ignore His call, and just do our own thing. We will have no fear of God; we will do as we please, thus placing us on a path of chaos, strife, and destruction. We will have no desire to serve Him, or do the right thing, outside of obligation. We will miss out on true intimacy with Him, destroy relationships, hinder growth in ourselves, others, our church, and miss out on the process of maturity, as well as the wonder of His plan. Further Questions
Proverbs tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. This type of fear is not being scared, or fearful of what will happen, nor is it distrust or terror of God. Rather, it is reference and awe that fuels our worship and faith. It is the understanding of the wonder and majesty of our incredible God, who transcends time and space, and who is bigger than the entire universe He created, yet, He personally knows and loves us with deeper and more love than we could ever comprehend. In the Old Testament, the stipulation put to the Jews was that they follow their God and stick to the covenant. The covenant we have now is grace; the stipulation is that we accept it by faith. The growth of our fear (awe) is the response to His majesty. Reverence is taking the incredible knowledge of His majesty, and applying it to our lives, so we will walk with confidence in our Lord, and operate with respect to Him, and to the others whom He knows and loves.
The Bible plainly tells us that we are to show reverence to God and to the things that represent His person and presence (Heb. 12:28,29). Most Christians will say, yes, to the first part, to fear and respect God, but do they do so with one another? What about the things and stuff that represent God, such as stained glass, icons, pews, and the church lobby? Many Christians today do not believe that church facilities need respect. Yet, Gods Word tells us, "Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD" (Lev. 19:30, 26:2). This passage is referring to a tent where Gods sanctuary was set up, not the great temple of Solomon that was built later. So, even the most commonplace location is considered very special to God, and thus is also deserving of our reverence. Reverence is a very important character regarding how we relate to both God and others. Reverence and respect have similar meanings. However, reverence has more of the meaning of worship, and pertains to God. We used to call our ministers, "Reverend" as a means of respect. However, we do not worship them, only God. Ministers are Gods representatives, and to a degree, all Christians are included in the doctrine of the priesthood of the Believer. But, most people no longer call their pastors, reverend, no longer do children respect their parents. Often they even call them by their first names. We mock our church leaders; ignore their advice, while our churches run down into dysfunction and irrelevancy. We need to be respectful to all people, whether we agree with them or not. We need to recapture the respect of parents and authorities, something that has eroded, and caused so much rebellion, creating strife, dysfunction, and chaos in our society (Rom. 12:10; 1 Peter 5:5). When we grow in maturity in the Christian walk, we will naturally show more reverence and respect for Gods presence. This mindset must also transfer to how we deal with His creation, with people, and with what represents Him. We do not wake up one day with Character. When we do have it, others will see it, may even point to it, or be discipled from it. © 2003 R. J. Krejcir Into Thy Word Ministries www.intothyword.com |
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