Fearing God

In my last post I briefly mentioned that we talked about fearing God during our Journey meeting last Friday. It was a rather lively discussion, with the occasional “God can snuff you out on a whim” comment. I learned a lot, but something struck me during our meeting that I felt I wanted to share. I just haven’t gotten around to it, and Joshua has threatened to “Put the fear of God in me” if I don’t post something soon, so here it is.

I can’t remember who said it or why, or in what context, but someone brought up that we should feel bad when we sin against God. God hates sin and really desires for us not to do it. He wants us to be holy people who are constantly seeking righteousness in our lives. I thought about my reaction when I hurt someone. I can’t think of a good example right now, but as many of you know when I wrong someone or hurt someone or just do something that offends someone I’m just heartbroken. I can’t eat because my stomach is in knots. I get very detached. I want to do anything to make it better. I will go to great lengths to fix a broken relationship because it pains me so greatly.

Not so with God. I sin against God all the time, and I don’t feel bad. I’m a rebel. I say no to God and what he wants for me on a daily basis. Why doesn’t that make me feel bad? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because I’m not as close to Him as I should be. Maybe it’s because I don’t respect or love Him enough. Maybe it’s because I want to do what I want to do, and nothing is going to stop me. Whatever the reason, it’s wrong. I sin against God and I should feel terrible. Yes, I’m covered by grace and Jesus’ blood, but that doesn’t give me the right to do whatever I want. Sin is a very serious thing, something that we don’t take seriously enough.

So what do we do about this? I’m not sure, but I do know that I need to radically change how I think about Jesus as my PERSONAL Savior. If I was worried about how he’d PERSONALLY take it I probably wouldn’t do it anymore.

Tags: christianity, personal