Do We Really Fear God?

Verse of the day: Genesis 28:17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

I find it amazing that we, as God’s children, can be so nonchalant in our approach to the Lord. I have all too often heard Christians call Him “Big Guy” or “The Guy Upstairs”, or by some other impersonal reference. Do we have such a lack of fear of, and reverence for, our Lord and Savior that we refer to Him in a way that puts Him on the same level as just some “other person” in our lives? Jesus said to His disciples, in John 15:15, that He no longer called them servants, but friends. This however does not give us the right, or permission, to lack reverence in our approach when we pray to, or worship, our God. In this verse, we see that Jacob’s reaction to the realization that the Lord was in that place was fear. It was a fear that caused him to be in reverent awe. Do we view our God in the same manner, or has He become someone that we approach without much thought or heart preparation? Have we made Him our “genie-in-a-bottle” that we summons when we need something? Over, and over again, when I read in the Word of God, in reference to someone being in the presence of God, the reaction is quite different from what I see in our approach to being in the presence of God. When Isaiah saw the Lord in Isaiah 6:5, he was immediately self-aware of how sinful he was. The Apostle Peter, upon realizing who Jesus was, in Luke 5:8, he exclaimed, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” The Apostle John, in seeing the Lord in a vision wrote in Revelation 1:17, And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.” The Apostle Paul, while on the Road to Damascus, in Acts 9, encountered Jesus and fell to the ground, trembling and astonished. He even took it a step further and immediately called Him Lord. Even demons believe and tremble (James 2:19). Have we lost our sense of reverence in our relationship with Jesus? Have we become so familiar with Him that we no longer show Him the respect He is due? Do our words, actions, and attitude towards others, reflect that we have a genuine, reverent, fear for the God whom we say we represent and proclaim to the world?

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).