Be Holy: How Holy?
"At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' The words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.' " (Hebrews 12:26-28)
I'm not surprised it's so difficult for you and I to approach God with the "reverence and awe" the God of the universe deserves. For one thing, we just can't imagine His absolute holiness. Very few things in our culture are thought to be sacred. We take off our shoes to protect the carpet, but we don't have much reason to do so out of respect for a holy place.
The other problem is that we lower God's value because He was willing to accept us into His family. We know us, and we are sinful, often foolish, sometimes downright wicked people. If God would forgive us, how holy could He be?
We know that's wrong thinking. God did not relax His holiness to welcome us home; He obliterated our sin when He crushed holy Jesus on the cross. The consuming fire of His perfect wrath burned Him up instead of us. We can only say "yes" and "thank you again" and try harder to worship Him with deeper reverence and awe.
Think: Why do you think it's so hard for us to understand God's holiness? What can we do about it?
Pray: Ask God to help you worship Him acceptably with reverence and awe. Thank Him again for including you in His family through Jesus' death on the cross.
Do: Look up the words "acceptable," "reverence," and "awe" in your favorite online dictionary.
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