Hebrew 12:28, Matthew 16:24
Having a reverent heart for God means we honor him, respect him and give thanks to him; giving him an acceptable worship with reverence. In order to do so, we have to go back to the basics, or the fundamentals. Do we treat God with the reverence He deserves? We may have forgotten how great God is and how much respect is really deserved. Imagine how God would feel if we gave Him the respect and reverence he deserves at all times.
Prayer – having the correct body language, and being reverent in prayer. Posture and body language matter. If we have the correct body language it trains us to have a reverent heart. By bowing, kneeling and raising our hands, we can humble ourselves and show respect in prayer, worship and praise. These things signify that our hearts are in the right place.
Bible – bringing your Bible to church and marking verses. Bringing a physical Bible to church can stop us from getting distracted. We should change our mindset from being comfortable to showing a reverent heart for God by the simple act of bringing our Bible.
Active listening – during Sunday worship and also during house church. Listening to understand, refraining from judgment, and showing empathy to the speaker. How can the word of God touch our heart on Sunday if we aren’t listening? We should try to stay off of our phones. It is common courtesy and it is a sign of showing respect. We should be more mindful of how much we are on our phone during Sunday worship, and eventually stop. We lose the opportunity to let the Holy Spirit touch our heart if we are distracted even for a second by being on our phones. During house church, it is easy for a heart to be hardened and doors to be shut when we see people who are not paying attention as we try to share our heart.
Sundays – Sunday is not just any day during the week, but a day that we are privileged to come together and worship our God. We need to set apart Sundays from any other day of the week. We should try to live our life a little differently on Sunday. Sundays should be distinguished as a different day than any other day of the week.
These fundamentals that will bring our heart back to God are practical, but also may be a little difficult. In Matthew, it says we need to deny ourselves. God knows that we are self centered, and understands our circumstances. He doesn’t care about our shortcomings, but sees and appreciates our effort. We should keep trying and practicing so that we can continue to build good habits that ultimately turn into our character, who we are and can become.
These simple actions may not seem like much, but they are actually everything. We need to have a reverent heart in all that we do, more than focusing or prioritizing any other gifts we may have. Serving and acting out our gifts are worth nothing if we do not love God first. We may find ourselves prideful the longer we have a relationship with God because some of these things seem like things we only did as a new Christian. But these things are essential because not only are they bringing us back to who we need to be as reverent Christians, but it is also a way to show others how to act. We can set a good example.
Living a life as a disciple of Jesus Christ isn’t supposed to be comfortable, but living a life for Jesus has true fulfillment. Serving the lord in the simple things shows obedience and reverence. We should all strive to go back to the basics.
Jessica’s Reflection: I think the longer I have been in church and the more comfortable I feel, I let myself get away with things I shouldn’t. This message was a great reminder that I need to keep myself in check, and stop being so comfortable and relaxed, but rather, remind myself that God is someone who should be viewed with awe.
Reflection Question: What small steps can you take to live life more reverent to God? How will you try to implement them practically?
All Nations Fellowship 