The Importance of Awe

Your wickedness will punish you;

your backsliding will rebuke you.

Consider then and realize

how evil and bitter it is for you

when you forsake the Lord your God

and have no awe of me,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

Jeremiah 2:19

In Jeremiah chapter two God confronts His people with their sin. They have acted like an adulterous wife and turned their backs on God to run after idols. In verse 19 God connects Israel's sin with a complete loss of awe or fear. And before I read this verse the other day, I never understood how important worship is in the life of a believer. 

Worship is simply thinking about who God is and then responding to His excellency. All forms of worship have this in common. When we worship God in song, we sing of His holiness, His grace, His power, His wonderful actions in history, and so much more. When we worship Him in prayer, we bow down in humble adoration of who He is. When we speak words of praise about Him, what do we speak about but His faithful deeds? All these forms of worship are essentially the same. We think about how great God is and then responding to it. 

This is why true worship always gives rise to an awe or a holy fear in our hearts. When we grasp even a glimpse of who God really is we are in awe. And what I never understood before is the role that this awe or fear plays in our lives. I never realized what a beneficial side effect worship could have on us. 

The awe or holy fear of God that worship stirs up in our hearts helps keep us away from sin. True worship helps prevent sin in our lives, because it gives birth to awe and fear in our heart and these naturally fight against willful sin. 

So take some time today to attack the sin in your life by cultivating worship. Think about who He really is, how big He is, how powerful He is, how good is. Grasp just how far beyond your comprehension He is. Sit in awe of Him. Fear Him. And then run toward Him and away from your sin.

Break Up the Ground

"This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: 'Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.'"

Jeremiah 4:3

God compares Judah’s hardened, sinful hearts to a field that has long been left untended and has become overgrown with thorns. You can’t sow seed on a field in that condition. You have to prepare the soil first. You have to remove the thorns and plow the field before you plant something new. God is telling His people, “You wouldn’t sow a field without clearing and plowing it first. Do the same with your heart.”

If you want to turn your heart back to the Lord this morning, then you need to clear it of thorns. A lot of people try to change their life by adding a few good things without removing any bad things. They start going to church or reading their Bible or praying, and they don’t understand why their life doesn’t change. They don’t realize that they are casting good seed on soil that can’t receive it. Just as soil can’t receive seed when it is consumed by thorns, so too, your heart can’t receive Jesus when it’s consumed by sin. You can’t just add Jesus to your heart and leave the rest of your life unchanged! If you really want to return to the Lord, cut the thorns of sin out of your life.

But even after you clear your life of thorns, there is still something you must do before you plant new seed. You must plow the hardened soil. This is a metaphor for repentance. Returning to God requires not only getting rid of your sin but also repenting of it. You must be broken over your sin. You have to break up the hard places in your heart and soften them again so you can receive the good seed God wants to plant in you now.

What does this repentance look like? How do we break up the hardened soil of our hearts? In short, we allow ourselves to become heartbroken over the ways we have sinned against God. We grieve over our sin. We humble ourselves before Him. We submit to Him. This is how you take a hard heart and make it soft again.

Has your heart grown hard and untended? Has it grown cold and unyielding to the Spirit’s promptings? If so, remove your sin and break up the soil of your heart this morning with the plow of repentance. Weep over your sin. Humble yourself before God. Make your heart soft and surrender it to Him. Then you'll be ready to receive the new things God has for you.

For further reading…

• James 4:7-10 offers a compelling picture of what repentance looks like.

Cling Closely, Bring Glory (W.o.W. Rewind)

Do you have any clothes that are especially expensive or just for special occasions? Chances are that when you wear them you feel better about yourself. They add a little pep to your step. But have you ever gotten a huge stain on clothes like that. When something that fine gets ruined, it looks so much worse than when you get a stain on a regular old pair of jeans. The stain stands out so much more on something so nice.

God commanded the prophet Jeremiah to act out a metaphor very much like this for His people in Jeremiah chapter thirteen. God told Jeremiah buy a fine linen belt to wear. Then He told him to go to the river and hide it in the cleft of a rock. Only many days later did the Lord tell Jeremiah to go retrieve it. Of course it was ruined, wet and muddy. Useless! In verses nine and ten God reveals the significance of this act.

This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!

Jeremiah's ruined belt represents the pride of Judah which God promised to ruin. God promised to bring judgment on His people because of their idolatry and stubborn refusal to repent. Then, in verse eleven, God pushes the symbolism further saying,

'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

God says that the ruined belt also symbolizes how His people have ruined His glory. God's people were supposed to cling to Him like a beautiful belt that always stayed close and brought added glory by virtue of their fine quality. Instead, because of their sin and unfaithfulness to God, Israel and Judah had become defiled and had failed to glorify God. Now they were like a soiled belt wrapped around His waist. As God's people they bear His name and they drag it along with them into their sin.

It's heartbreaking to think that God's people would so callously besmirch God's name. Yet, how often do we do the same? We call ourselves Christians, then we unabashedly and publicly watch movies and TV shows we know Christ never would. We go to church and we attack and viciously tear down our leaders and other believers in ways that are out of step with Christ's love for His church. We engage in our secret sins, thinking that no one sees, but God does.

Father, help us to live as your people in this world. Help us to cling tightly to you, to always stay close to you and to live in a way that increases your fame, your glory, and your praise. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

See Your Sin

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10

It's important to remember that sin isn't just something we do, it's who we are. We are sinful. I know that we all like to think that deep down we are all good people who sometimes do bad things, but we aren't. We are bad people. Not necessarily bad in the sense that we are worse than others, but bad in the sense that we fall far short of God's righteousness. If we aren't careful, we will forget this. 

"Is that such a bad thing?" You may be thinking. "Why should I feel bad about myself all the time?" Well, you shouldn't but you should see yourself as you truly are. You see, God doesn't want to just free you from low self-esteem; He wants to free you from the sin in your heart. Look at it this way. A good doctor tells you when you have cancer and prescribes a treatment that can save your life. She doesn't lie to you and tell you that you're healthy and then send you home to die. The lie might feel better in the moment but the truth will be far better for you in the long run. So too, seeing yourself for the sinner you really are allows you to confess and forsake your sin. Over time the act of seeing your sins, confessing them and learning to be free of them by the power of God's Spirit is called sanctification. This is what helps us to become more and more like Christ. But each forward step in this progress begins with you seeing your sin.   

Oftentimes we mistakenly think of our sin only in terms of the things we do. But many of our most dangerous sins reside secretly in our hearts where they are hidden safely away from the gaze of our fellow man and, if we aren't careful, away from our own gaze as well. That's why we must regularly pause to search out and confess our sin. You can't confess and forsake sin you don't realize you have.

One last thought, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He didn't respond with any of the many commands restricting behavior or any of the many commands prescribing behavior. Instead, He said that the most important command has to do with the heart. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). So take some time to search your heart. What things do you love that you shouldn't? What things should you love that you don't? Pay attention to your heart. God certainly does. 

For further reading...

• I Samuel 16:7- God looks on the heart.
• Proverbs 4:23- Where your heart leads your life follows. 
• Matthew 6:21- Your heart follows the things it loves.
• Matthew 12:34- Your heart controls what you say as well.
• Luke 16:15- God knows your heart.

I am against you

‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’... I am against you, Jerusalem,

Jeremiah 21:8-10, 13

"I am against you." These have to be the most terrifying words God has ever spoken to a man. The prophet Jeremiah delivers this oracle to the people of Jerusalem in the 6th century. King Nebuchadnezzar would soon destroy the city of Jerusalem. God's punishment for their rebellion was to send a foreign king to kindle a fire and destroy their city.

"I am against you." God has passed this terrifying judgment on each and everyone one of His rebellious creatures. In Romans 1:18 the Word says "the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness." We have all sinned and gone our own way (Romans 3:23). We have all rebelled against God, and our impending judgment is just as sure as the judgment of which Jeremiah spoke. The fires of Hell have already been kindled to destroy those who oppose God.  

But thank God He is never changing! Just as He prepared a way of escape for the Old Testament people of God, so He has made a way of salvation for us as well. Those in Jerusalem had to humble themselves under God's punishment and submit to captivity, but the offer of salvation which He has extended to us is far better. We must also give up our earthly "city." We can longer live for this world if we are to escape God's wrath. We must become citizens of a different and better country. And we must also surrender ourselves to God and submit to His will for our lives. We too will live like aliens and strangers on this earth, but we will be reconciled to God. Everlasting peace will have been brokered on our behalf between ourselves and the Father by the only mediator who is able to do so, Jesus- His perfect Son. 

If we will but cast our faith on Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, and believe that His death and resurrection secured our peace, then God will speak new words to us. Instead of "I am against you," He will say "I will be your God and you will be my children" (Revelation 21:7). 

Thank you Father for the way of salvation you offer to us through Jesus Your Son. May all praise and glory be to You, God of all mercy!

How to Complain to God

You will be righteous, Lord, even if I bring a case against You. Yet, I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the treacherous live at ease? You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience. As for You, Lord, You know me; You see me. You test whether my heart is with You... How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? Because of the evil of its residents, animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”

Jeremiah 12:1-4

It's bound to happen sooner or later. You'll want to complain to God. Maybe it'll be when a coworker gets your promotion or when someone close to you dies or when you realize you can't afford to buy your kid that thing they really want. Eventually, you will feel the urge to complain...we all do. But do you know how to complain to God? Jeremiah's complaint gives us insight. 

One of the most important things to remember when we complain to God is that in a real sense we are also complaining about God. Since God is in control of all things, whatever we complain about we are complaining about something God has allowed in our lives. We are complaining about the decisions God has made. When we lift our eyes to heaven and shake our fist saying "Life isn't fair!" We are also inherently saying, "God, you haven't been fair to me." Jeremiah knows this, so he carefully begins his complaint by reminding himself who is complaining to and about. This is an important first step if you are going to avoid disrespecting God.

Then Jeremiah launches into his complaint, but he doesn't stop with the specifics of what is bothering him, Jeremiah tells God why He should care. He doesn't appeal to God in purely selfish terms. He shows how the current circumstances hurt the things God cares about most: His creation, His people, and His glory. God's creation is ruined as a result of the wicked. The land and the animals are affected by the people's sin (v. 4). God's people are also impacted (v. 2 & 4). Anytime the wicked prosper the righteous suffer. Moreover, when the land isn't producing enough food, God's people go hungry. Lastly, God's glory is diminished. His reputation suffers when the wicked prosper as if there were no God, no justice. God's people begin to believe that God is no longer watching (v. 4). Jeremiah uses his knowledge of God's heart to move Him to act.

Lastly, Jeremiah is very careful to acknowledge that God knows him perfectly. God sees you, and He knows your thoughts. Don't you dare attack God with complaints if you are guilty of unconfessed sin, if your heart isn't right before Him. Be careful to approach Him with humility and innocence or don't approach Him with your complaint at all.

Wade through Regret

Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

Deuteronomy 9:7

This past week I vacationed with my wife's family in California. One day as my daughter played in the sand, I watched a surfer struggle against the tide to get into deeper waters where she could catch waves. I had never considered how difficult it must be before, but she appeared to struggle to manage the bulky board as she jumped over the waves crashing into her. Working through the shallows didn't look like much fun, but of course it was necessary work to get out to depths where one could catch a wave before it folds over on itself.

Regret is like this shallow water that meets the shore. It crashes into us in waves, reminding us of all our failures. It fills us with shame as we try to manage all the baggage of our poor choices. Most of us would rather avoid it altogether, but we can't. Regret is the only approach to God's grace. We must wade through the shallow waters of regret in order to plunge ourselves into the deeper waters of God's grace. 

You simply cannot appreciate God's grace until you have considered your own sin. Remembering your sin enables you to realize how good God has been to you. When you make light of your sin or ignore it altogether, then you make light of God's grace. How can we declare the glories of God's amazing grace to us, if we do not occasionally consider how undeserving of it we were and are? Don't forget your sins! Remember them. Even though they are already forgiven, periodically call to mind your current and past sins. This will help prevent you from making the same mistakes over and over in life, and it will help stave off a presumptuous attitude before God. 

Truthfully, I hardly ever think about my sin. Sadder still, when I do kneel in prayer to confess my sin, I can hardly think of anything to confess. This isn't because I am so saintly as to no longer need confession, but rather it's because I am so oblivious to my own sin that I live practically as if I had none. Theologically I know I am a sinner, but I have turned a blind eye to that truth in my every day experience. Jeremiah 6:15 scares me in this regard:

"Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the Lord.

Father, please do not allow me to become so hardened to my sin that I no longer know how to regret it. I know that I can't repent of my sin without being sorry for it, so teach me to be ashamed of my sin, so that I might repent and experience more of Your grace. Most of all, Father, help me to understand and be awed by Your grace.

Cling Closely and Bring Glory

Do you have any clothes that are an expensive brand name or just something you save for special occasions? Chances are that when you wear them out you feel better about yourself. You have a little added pep in your step. You think you look your best. But have you ever ruined any clothes like that before? Maybe you got a huge stain on them. When something that fine gets ruined, it looks so much worse than when you get a stain on regular old pair of jeans or a t-shirt. It's like the stain stands out and screams for attention even louder against the backdrop of such fine clothing.

God commands the prophet Jeremiah to act out a metaphor very much like this for His people in Jeremiah chapter thirteen. God has Jeremiah buy a fine linen undergarment to wear. Then He told him to go to a certain river and to hide it in a cleft of a rock. Only many days later did the Lord tell Jeremiah to go and retrieve it. Of course it was ruined, wet and muddy. It was useless. In verses nine and ten God reveals the significance of this acted out metaphor.

This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!

Jeremiah's ruined belt or undergarment represents the pride of Judah which God promises to ruin. God is bringing judgment on His people because of their idolatry and stubborn refusal to repent. Then, in verse eleven, God pushes the symbolism a step further saying,

'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

God reveals that the ruined belt also symbolizes how His people have ruined His glory. God's people were supposed to cling to Him like a fine belt that always stayed close and brought added glory by virtue of their fine quality. Instead, because of their sin and unfaithfulness to God, Israel and Judah have become defiled and have failed to glorify God. Now they are like a soiled belt wrapped around His waist. As God's people they bear His name and they drag it along with them into their sin.

It is heartbreaking to think that God's people would so callously besmirch God's name. Yet, how often do we do the same? We call ourselves Christians, then we unabashedly go to the theaters and publicly watch movies we know Christ never would. We go to church and we attack and viciously tear down our leaders and other believers in ways that are out of step with Christ's love for His church. We engage in our secret sins, thinking that no one sees, but God does.

Father, help us to live as your people in this world. Help us to cling tightly to you, to always stay close to you and to live in a way that increases your fame, your glory, and your praise. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.