An Unshakeable Kingdom

RECEIVE GOD’S UNSHAKEABLE KINGDOM with gratitude and reverence.

Accept His offer of grace with praise and wonder. Welcome His unconditional love with thanksgiving and awe.

Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

This is NOT a cowering fear in the presence of a powerful judge like we saw in verse 21. This is a reverential awe in the presence of a loving Heavenly Father. It’s what the Bible means when it talks about “the fear of the Lord.”

Lee Eclov, a pastor in Vernon Hills, Illinois, describes it like this. He says:

I used to think that living in “the fear of the Lord” is like driving down the street while watching the policeman in your rearview mirror. But actually there's a better picture for the fear of the Lord. It's like a teenage driver who suddenly spots her father's car in her rearview mirror. Seeing him back there puts her on notice to be on her best behavior – to use her blinkers and stop at the yellow light, and to keep both hands on the wheel. But it also tells her that her father cares enough to follow her. It tells her that she's safe. Her father isn't trying to trap or trick her. He's trying to help her develop good habits; not just to be careful on this trip, but to obey the laws and stay safe until she gets home. She's driving on her own, but not completely on her own.

So it is for the people of God. The fear of the Lord means we live life with our heavenly Father always in our rearview mirror. We glance up and see his brilliant holiness but also his care and love. (Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois; www.PreachingToday.com)

Oh, my dear friends, be grateful for such love! Accept it with reverence and awe.

Now, that’s the kind of relationship God wants to have with you! So don’t tremble with fear any longer, because you are no longer under the terrifying precepts of God’s Law. Instead, triumph with faith, because you are now under the tremendous promise of God’s grace. You have not come to the Judge at Mount Sinai. You have come to Jesus in Heaven! So, please, don’t reject His invitation to grace. Instead, receive it with gratitude and reverence.

Evelyn Bence, in an article for Christianity Today, writes about spending an evening at a shelter for homeless women at the invitation of a friend.

Her three hours at the shelter were not filled with dramatic scenes. From a corner of the large sleeping area, she helped serve dinner to 30 women who ate their substantial but bland meal, sitting cross-legged on their sleeping mats. Except for two boisterously irrational women, they talked little. By nine o'clock, many were bedding down for the night.

As Evelyn did the dishes, still within sight of the women, the word “homeless” took on a personal meaning. These women slept here, but every morning when they left, they had to carry their possessions with them.

“Suddenly,” Evelyn writes, “I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my nightgowns, for my very own pillow, for my hand-picked dining room chairs.” “Lord,” she silently prayed, “Thank you. Thank you – that I'm not one of them.”