"Wow!"

When I turned on my computer Bible study program this morning it came right back up to where we left off yesterday in the Old Testament book of First Kings.  If you remember, we were talking about finding a quiet place to converse with God each day.  Our scripture told of a time when Elijah was looking for God in all the wrong places.  The prophet was looking to find God in the easy and obvious locations.  What he discovered was that he had to go off to a quiet place so that he could hear the “still small voice” of God.  (1 Kings 19:12-13 King James Version)

What caught my immediate attention this morning was what the Prophet did upon hearing God speaking to him.  The scripture says that he covered his head in reverence to God.  When I saw that, I fell back in my chair and uttered a bewildered “Wow!”  Sometimes I think that modern Christians get too relaxed in their approach to our Heavenly Father.  One thing that I really respect from my Catholic upbringing was the reverence for God, the church and the clergy, that was taught and observed in Parochial School way back then.

Now while I fully understand that in the New Testament dispensation (because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross) Christians have the right to go boldly to the throne of God to receive mercy and grace in their time of need (see Hebrews 4:16), I still believe that we need to enter His presence with a sense of honor and respect.  As the most vocal prophet of God in his time in Israel, Elijah had an open door to God, but nevertheless, he still knew of the importance of reverence before the Holy God of heaven and earth!

Once again, this is a lesson to be learned by many of us!  Are we showing Him the respect He is due, by simply giving Him a few scattered minutes of our attention each day?  If we really knew Him to be our God - Jesus as our Lord and Savior Who sacrificed His very self, shed His blood for our freedom, wouldn’t we be doing whatever it takes to be alone with Him in His presence as much as we could?

All this flashed through my mind in the moment it took me to flop back in my chair and utter “Wow!”  I suddenly have a whole new perspective on my time with my Father God!  I’m looking at my attitude, my motivation, and at my attention span when I am with Him… How about you?  Give it some thought, and see what adjustments you might need to make to your personal reception dial!  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”