Monthly Archive for June, 2007

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Don’t Give Up

Believe me, some days when the Sabbath is approaching, you may feel like it is an impossible task to prepare a Sabbath dinner. I have certainly felt that way before. But the thing that encourages me is thinking that if this truly is an important, potent celebration, I should expect to get resistance. Anything to get me to give up! Remember you will get resistance too. You may feel tired, out of good meal ideas, bored of cooking, or it may be too hot to cook. Whatever the reason, remember that when you overcome your duddiness to prepare a feast for the family, God will not only bless you for it, He will meet you in it and give you the strength to overcome the obstacles. You’ve heard it said that anything worth doing will be difficult at times. I agree. Some of those Sabbath dinners when I felt fresh out of steam or ideas ended up being the sweetest. So do what you need to do to perk yourself up. Read some cookbooks, have a double-shot iced mocha, try a new recipe, eat outside, invite some friends to potluck with you, go to a park. And if you really can’t pull it off, well then, order pizza, open the wine, and light the candles. We have done things like that before, especially if we’ve just gotten home from a trip or if we’ve had a wedding in the afternoon. Recently after a late afternoon wedding, we picked up some things at the deli and used paper plates. That’s all we could muster! After we prayed, we put the kids at the table and the adults sat in the living room. It was very pleasant. Tomorrow I expect we will sit outside and enjoy the warm weather. Fire up the grill and take it easy. Don’t give up, and God will bless it!

Reverence

Reverence is a feeling or attitude of deep respect, love, and awe.

In our day the word awesome is so overused, to describe things like tee-shirts or movies, that we have lost a very powerful word. Nevertheless, the word awe really means something like this: a mixed feeling of reverence, fear, and wonder, caused by something majestic or sublime. Awe is a fearful or profound respect or wonder that is inspired by greatness, superiority, or grandeur.

As Christian people, we are to have a profound respect and reverence for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what it is to fear the Lord.

Lev. 19:30 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the Lord.

Ps. 89:7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him. Continue reading ‘Reverence’