O Be Careful, Little _____ What You ______

Ezekiel 44

v. 2,4:  The LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut....”  Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I fell on my face.

Impression:  How lightly and casually we regard the LORD God in our thinking, our speaking, our doing.  Perhaps the greatest sin—one that opens the door to so many others—is to think too little of God.  We presume upon the body and blood of the Lord Jesus an intimacy of brotherhood. But God is our Father—not our buddy.  God remains the awesome, commanding, sovereign Lord of the universe.  If we but understood His power, greatness, and wisdom we, too, would tremble and fall.  We would be unable to stand and go about our daily business for fear of the LORD GOD.

Application:  How might a better understanding of God affect my prayer life?  To recognize His awesome might and sovereign control would put my requests and desires in perspective.  Would I still ask for the petty things that please me?  How would a better knowledge of God affect my actions?  If I lived out the children’s song, “For the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little _________ how you ________,” what would change?  My personal entertainment, my indulgent eating, my relaxed laziness?  But I don’t want to.  I don’t want to know God because, yes, it would demand change.  It would remove the self-indulgence and shackle my desires, my efforts, my time, my resources to God and God alone.  But what better place to be?  “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (Psalm 84:10)

God is glorious.  God is gracious.  God is lovingly kind.  God is merciful.  God is peace.  God is joy.  God is the Provider and Protector of His people.  Because of Christ’s substitutionary death, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” (Song of Solomon 2:16).  But never at the cost of flippancy or contemporary causality.  God is.  My existence depends on that.  Past.  Present.  Future.  He is the I AM.  I am a dependent clause.  May God allow us to fear Him that we might walk in humble service and gratitude.