I've been bouncing this idea around my head for over a year and I thought I'd share it with you.
First of all, we have lost the idea of fearing God. What I usually see (and/or do myself) is a flippancy towards God or a legalism. The flippancy looks like someone who prays fast, prays the same thing every time they pray, or who carelessly doesn't think about what they are praying. This shows that we are not focused on building a relationship with a holy God. One of these that I think of is "God, please bless this food to our bodies." I know I just offended many of you so let me clarify. What does that mean? Does that mean that we think it has been poisoned? Does it mean that we truly expect our frozen pizza to become nourishing to us? I have tried to instead change it to thanking God for that same food and for providing for our needs. Yet, I also can easily fall into the trap of not paying attention to what I'm saying. It takes work to keep it a relationship and not a duty.
The other end is what I am calling legalism. It's a set pattern and way of doing something because where the way of doing it has become more important that the thing itself. My example here is a prayer spoken in another language. Now, there is a whole generation of people that may be offended when I say this so I want to explain myself again. "Thee" and "thou" are not even words in our American-English language. Sure, they are there, but we don't use them. Two things that are part of my problem with this. 1. If I am to remember my fear of God, why in the world am I going to talk to him like that? Why do I suspect that it's a distraction and not truly reverence? 2. If I am to recognize Jesus as a brother and God the Father as my heavenly father, why would I talk to him like that? I don't want my daughter to say, "Father, whilst thou givest me some more dinner?" Why not? Because I'm her daddy and there is a familiarity in our relationship. now, there is still respect (which we should also have before God) but that relationship feels wooden and stiff when we change the language to be incredibly formal.
For both of these, I know that people disagree with me and I am perfectly fine with that. In fact, if I am with you and you ask God to bless the food and use a "thee" or "thou" in your prayer, I'm not going to be offended and I won't say a thing. Why? Because I think that I'm giving generalizations and not everyone who prays for the food to be blessed isn't think about their prayer and not everyone who says "thee" while praying is being legalistic. What I'm saying is just a generalization.
At the end of Hebrews 4, the author is talking about how Jesus Christ is our great high priest. By this he means that Jesus is our direct access to God the Father. He then concludes with, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Where this reads "with confidence" the KJV (Kings James Version) says "come boldly."
The way I envision this is to remember Queen Esther in the Old Testament. She had a need to go before the king. She had no confidence whether or not he would hold out his scepter. If he did, she could speak to him and make her request. If he didn't extend the scepter, she would be put to death. Obviously she would have had trepidation and fear as she approached the king. She didn't know if he would hold out the scepter.
What we have is a guarantee. When we approach the throne of God, and we do so through the blood of Jesus Christ, God guarantees us access to him. He will always extend the scepter and hear our pleas. How amazing is that!!! :o)
Having said that, we still remember that he is a holy and just God. That is what keeps us coming boldly (guaranteed access), but not brashly (we still respect him as God of the universe).
Praise God for his love and justice. For his holiness. Praise God for access to the throne of God. Yet, in that praise, let us never grow lax and irreverent. Our God and heavenly Father deserves our love and respect!
First of all, we have lost the idea of fearing God. What I usually see (and/or do myself) is a flippancy towards God or a legalism. The flippancy looks like someone who prays fast, prays the same thing every time they pray, or who carelessly doesn't think about what they are praying. This shows that we are not focused on building a relationship with a holy God. One of these that I think of is "God, please bless this food to our bodies." I know I just offended many of you so let me clarify. What does that mean? Does that mean that we think it has been poisoned? Does it mean that we truly expect our frozen pizza to become nourishing to us? I have tried to instead change it to thanking God for that same food and for providing for our needs. Yet, I also can easily fall into the trap of not paying attention to what I'm saying. It takes work to keep it a relationship and not a duty.
The other end is what I am calling legalism. It's a set pattern and way of doing something because where the way of doing it has become more important that the thing itself. My example here is a prayer spoken in another language. Now, there is a whole generation of people that may be offended when I say this so I want to explain myself again. "Thee" and "thou" are not even words in our American-English language. Sure, they are there, but we don't use them. Two things that are part of my problem with this. 1. If I am to remember my fear of God, why in the world am I going to talk to him like that? Why do I suspect that it's a distraction and not truly reverence? 2. If I am to recognize Jesus as a brother and God the Father as my heavenly father, why would I talk to him like that? I don't want my daughter to say, "Father, whilst thou givest me some more dinner?" Why not? Because I'm her daddy and there is a familiarity in our relationship. now, there is still respect (which we should also have before God) but that relationship feels wooden and stiff when we change the language to be incredibly formal.
For both of these, I know that people disagree with me and I am perfectly fine with that. In fact, if I am with you and you ask God to bless the food and use a "thee" or "thou" in your prayer, I'm not going to be offended and I won't say a thing. Why? Because I think that I'm giving generalizations and not everyone who prays for the food to be blessed isn't think about their prayer and not everyone who says "thee" while praying is being legalistic. What I'm saying is just a generalization.
At the end of Hebrews 4, the author is talking about how Jesus Christ is our great high priest. By this he means that Jesus is our direct access to God the Father. He then concludes with, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Where this reads "with confidence" the KJV (Kings James Version) says "come boldly."
The way I envision this is to remember Queen Esther in the Old Testament. She had a need to go before the king. She had no confidence whether or not he would hold out his scepter. If he did, she could speak to him and make her request. If he didn't extend the scepter, she would be put to death. Obviously she would have had trepidation and fear as she approached the king. She didn't know if he would hold out the scepter.
What we have is a guarantee. When we approach the throne of God, and we do so through the blood of Jesus Christ, God guarantees us access to him. He will always extend the scepter and hear our pleas. How amazing is that!!! :o)
Having said that, we still remember that he is a holy and just God. That is what keeps us coming boldly (guaranteed access), but not brashly (we still respect him as God of the universe).
Praise God for his love and justice. For his holiness. Praise God for access to the throne of God. Yet, in that praise, let us never grow lax and irreverent. Our God and heavenly Father deserves our love and respect!
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