Stand in Awe of God

Ecclesiastes 5
5 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ec 5:1-7). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Have we lost the idea that we should be in awe of God? Reading this passage, I am thinking about what we are doing with Christianity today. I have written previously about the dangers of legalism and my personal struggles with what we / I have made Christianity, but there is a danger in making God our buddy. He is God. To loose the awsomeness of that idea is to miss a big part of who and what He is. It becomes easy to forget His majesty and His power when we stop seeing God as The one true God of the Universe, both a personal savior and a majestic being, worthy of all honor, praise and glory.

It can be a tough balance to keep this perspective sometimes. We are able to have communion with God, He destroyed the barrier between us and He gave us grace, but it did not diminish who and what He is. We are told to take seriously what we say to Him. How many of us sing our sunday morning worship songs by rote? How many of us really consider the promises we are echoing to God? I know that I do not always live true to this passage.

1 comment:

  1. Great scripture. I read it this morning in our before-school devotions. Very thought provoking...

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