Devotional Day 26

Scripture

Exodus 20:1-21

And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” 21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Devotional

As I spoke about in this week’s lesson on ‘the fear of the Lord’ - the commands of God and the presence of God are both essential to fearing God.

As Christians, we often grow up in a church environment that emphasises one over the other, the commands of God over the presence, or the presence over the commands. There are of course, healthy churches that pursue both God’s presence and obedience to the scriptures, yet for many of us, we are imbalanced. This imbalance can lead us to lack a fear of the Lord - where on the one hand if we know the commands of God, but do not pursue the presence of God through a passionate pursuit of intimacy and experience with him then we will struggle with the ability or the motivation to live out the commands of God, and they will even feel religious and burdensome. On the other side, if we are all about God’s presence and chase experiences and neglect devotion to the scriptures and a heart of obedience to them then we will also lack the fear of the Lord, and although we might experience powerful moments with God here and there, the rest of our lives can be tossed around by the pressures and stresses of life and there could be a discongruity between our personal lives and our church lives. In order to have a healthy relationship with God we must pursue and value both the commands of the Lord, and the presence of the Lord.

In Exodus 20, God orchestrated a moment with his people where they would experience both. He gave them the commandments of the law, and then told them to come near, into his presence and glory (although it scared them) ‘so that the fear of God would be with them to keep them from sinning’.

I wonder, today, where do you need to balance out your relationship with God so that you can properly embrace the fear of the Lord? Do you need to deeply pursue the presence, glory and experience with the Lord and integrate that into your life, or do you need a reverence for the scriptures and submit wholeheartedly to them, living in obedience? A mature Christian does both, a Christian who fears God must prioritise both the commands and the presence of God. Don’t fall into the trap that so many do of pendulum swinging from one side to the other. Maybe you grew up in a conservative church that was all bible, but no intimacy. Don’t throw out the focus on the word, and obedience to it, double down and additionally pursue the presence of God. Maybe you grew up in a church that was experience centered and have desired to be less emotionally driven and more bible focussed, don’t throw out the wonder of childlike faith and pure worship, it’s pride, and you won’t have true intimacy with God again if you disdain your heritage. God is doing a new thing - a wonderful marriage of both word and spirit, and it’s going to lead to a wonderful resurgence of the fear of the Lord amongst God’s people.

Prayer

Lord, show me where I am unbalanced in my relationship with you, I repent for throwing the baby out with the bathwater, show me true wisdom Lord. I humble myself and fully embrace everything that you are, I want your presence and I submit to your word.