Awed

I am starting to have occasional dreams of spring, warmer days when I go outside barefoot at night and see the first fireflys against the night sky.  Standing on the grass that will hold the sun’s heat, I sing “I stand, I stand in awe of You.”  I don’t really know the entire song without words, so I will probably just blend that phrase in with something else several times over.  But, the point is that I want to be in awe of God, to realize just a little more of who God is. 

It is so easy for me to want to put limits on God.  My mind just can’t hold everything that He is.  The things that were started a very long time ago can become something common place, the sense of awe is lost.  Church, the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ can become just something to do on Sunday.  Little phrases that you might more commonly hear amongst Christians or those who are proclaiming this belief might just become less meaningful over time.  We grow content and the extraordinary grace, goodness, strength, and love of God become rather commonplace in our minds.

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong,” (Ecclesiastes 5:1).  Guard my steps, I need to make sure that I am choosing the right path.  There is a hill I climb once every few years that is quite steep, leading up to a family cemetery.  You have to choose your foot placement carefully, guarding and judging so that each step is firmly placed.  Otherwise, you risk winding up on your knees holding onto the dirt path for balance. 

The other thing I think is the complacency I have to watch and guard against when going to the house of God.  Going near to listen, I need to make sure I am prepared to listen.  Listening to the message and then letting all of the words and instructions mush around a bit with my brain tissue before seeping out my other ear doesn’t quite accomplish what it is intended to do.  I need to listen, not only to the words that someone is sharing in a sermon, but at what God is telling me. 

I am in awe of God, and that keeps much of the habitual activities from growing stale and commonplace, from me growing complacent.  Stand in awe.