Fear of God

(ATTN: Well, everyone. I gotta admit that I haven't really been sticking to this one-blog-a-week deal, have I? Well, that's about to change. I feel like I absolutely NEED to document what's been going on in my life, starting with a new blog series called "Modern Mondays." From now on, every Monday, I will be posting a blog about what I've been learning in my Bible study all week! As an added bonus, check back on Thursdays to see another new series called "Thankful Thursdays!" where I will begin a list of 1,000 things I'm thankful for before I graduate on May 7, 2011!)

That being said, welcome to Modern Monday #1! This past week was awesome! It's starting to really hit me that this is my senior year. Can you believe it? Last week was the first week of the seniors-only Bible study. Can I just say that it was just wonderful? We watched this video by Francis Chan about fearing God. (You can listen to the audio HERE !)In fact, I will just wait here until you finish listening to it, because it will make my explanation a whole lot easier to understand!

Have you listened to it yet? Good. My concept of fearing God was exactly how he explained it in the beginning - a reverential trust. Listening to the passages he quoted made it all-the-more clear that I was absolutely WRONG. We know God as all of the things he said: loving, caring, just, etc. And that's all true, but what about the other part of His nature? Because God is loving, caring and just, it means that He is also the judge of who is like Him. It means that those who are not like Him (or trusting that the blood of Jesus make us like Him) suffer the wrath of God, that He passes in His sovereignty. It's really insane to think that we can just do whatever we want, take advantage of His forgiveness, and just go on living like we're still under the bondage of sin! Isn't it crazy to think that we do that every day?

We need to have a healthy fear of God. When we finally realize that He could end your life AS YOU'RE READING THIS SENTENCE, and that He knows every even that has ever happened to you, is happening to you, and will happen to you, you come to the understanding that you are NOTHING in comparison to Him. When we realize that God is the Alpha and Omega, and that He is supreme over all, we see that He absolutely deserves every single part of us and so much more. And like Francis Chan said, that's when God tells us that we shouldn't be afraid. Isn't it interesting how God works? We have to fear Him before He tells us not to be afraid! He loves us and desires a relationship with us - but that relationship should be the most important thing in your life. More important that college decisions, family problems, boyfriends or girlfriends, sports or anything else that you value!

This week I've heard God say two very important things to me:
1) Take our relationship seriously. Think about it! When you're in a relationship, do you flirt with other people? Or in the context of a friendship, do you ignore your friend in the middle of a conversation to go talk to another friend? No! Of course not! You take your relationships seriously, because you value that person. Which brings me to the second thing He told me:
2) Value our relationship. If you're arguing with your friend and it's been a few days and the argument hasn't been resolved, you are faced with a choice: is what you're upset about worth losing the relationship over? In most cases, the answer is no. With God, the answer is always no! Your relationship with the Father should be the most valuable relationship you have. If you get angry at Him, you need to decide that God is Sovereign on His throne, and will be no matter what. He allows things to happen - but that doesn't make Him the cause.

So I have a challenge for you: Take your relationship with God seriously and treat it like it's the most valuable thing you have. Because it is.