What does it mean to have reverence for God?

Answer

Reverence is the honor and respect deeply felt and outwardly demonstrated. Due to the Lord God’s awesome power and majesty, He deserves the highest level of reverence “Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.”, (Leviticus 19:30). The Bible depicts reverence as the natural response of all who encounter the magnificent grandeur of the Lord God Almighty (Numbers 20:6;Judges 13:20;1 Chronicles 21:16).

The concept of reverence for God originated with God. In the Old Testament, God instructed the Israelites on demonstrating proper reverence by providing them with numerous laws concerning purity, holiness, and worship (Deuteronomy 5). Sinful humanity lacks the knowledge of how to worship a holy God with reverence and awe, so God clearly outlined it for us. His presence resided with Israel in the Ark of the Covenant, and they were forbidden to touch it out of reverence. The Holy of Holies within the tabernacle also demanded the utmost reverence “and the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.”, (Leviticus 16:2). Anyone who disobeyed God’s command regarding entry into the Holy of Holies faced immediate death (Leviticus 22:9;Numbers 4:20;1 Chronicles 13:9-10). The purpose of such stringent regulations was to establish holiness and emphasize to humanity the importance of reverence in the presence of the Lord. God is no.t to be trifled with.

In New Testament Christianity, reverence for God is demonstrated by our willingness to voluntarily die to self and obey His commands (Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:13; James 2:12). Jesus reminded us that we must properly reverence God. He taught the disciples to begin their prayers with “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9-13). Hallowed means “set apart as holy.” We are to treat the name of God with reverence. It is common to hear people, even professing Christians, use God’s name as an exclamation. OMG is tossed about as though it were of no more significance than the word wow. We may not intend to be irreverent, but when we invoke His name in casual chatter, we are being just that.

Another way we demonstrate reverence for God is by the way we live. Those with a right understanding of God’s nature also understand His wrath. We show reverence by taking seriously His hatred of sin and the coming judgment on those who refuse to repent (Colossians 3:6; Romans 1:18). We pursue holiness because He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). Reverent people desire “to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” «teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; », (Titus 2:12).

We show reverence for God by learning how to truly worship Him. Jesus said that the Father is seeking people who will learn to worship Him “in spirit and in truth” «God is a Spirit: and they that worship

Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. », (John 4:24). True worship is not about our favorite song. It is not confined to an emotional experience and is not synonymous with tingly feelings. True worship is a lifestyle. We worship in spirit when our hearts are abandoned before the Lord, willing to obey everything He has said. We worship in truth when our minds are engaged and filled with the biblical understanding of God’s nature. To worship God is to know Him and to serve Him. To worship Him the way He deserves to be worshiped, we must align our hearts with His and seek to obey Him see Luke 6:46.

Reverence for God is a quality missing in much of what masquerades as Christianity today. Instead of the kind of reverence we see demonstrated throughout the Bible, modern Christianity has adopted a “Jesus-is-my-buddy” attitude that grossly downplays the holiness, power, and righteous wrath of the Sovereign Creator. Reverence does not refer to God as “The Big Guy in the Sky” or “The Man Upstairs.” Once we truly know who God is, we reverence Him in our hearts. Even the thief on the cross, after he realized who Jesus was, rebuked the other thief for his irreverence: “Don’t you fear God?” he said to the other thief; then he turned to Jesus and honored Him as the King (Luke 23:40-42).

Human beings were created to worship God, so reverence is the natural response of a heart that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit. The more we grow in knowledge and understanding, the more reverence we feel toward Him. Proper reverence is not the same as stiff, religious formality. The gift of Jesus to us was God’s invitation to draw near (James 4:8;John 14:9). However, familiarity with God should not breed contempt, but greater reverence.