I Samuel 12:24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
My goodness, God is good! No scratch that; God is great! I don’t have to think real hard to consider what great things He has done. Just this morning I was seeking Him and praying for healing for my body. I was sick and couldn’t hardly function and BAM! He faithfully brought healing to my body. So I am fresh off His greatness right now. But He is so much more than that. He is my Savior, my healer, my friend, my everything. He has done great things and I am confident there are many more to come. Jesus loves me, this I know. He pursues me, forgives me, refines me, and restores me. He always holds up His end of the relationship.
So what’s my response to Him? What is my role in our relationship? Samuel told the people to do two things: fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully. And Samuel even called down thunder and rain from heaven to freak them out a little bit. Because they obviously needed to remember how great God is. You see they often neglected these two things, to fear Him and serve Him faithfully. In fact, they are likely the same two things that we struggle with today.
Fear Him. Yes, the God of mercy and grace is still a little scary. C.S. Lewis said that if we compare God to us it would be like comparing us to a slug. He’s that much better, that much greater, that much smarter, that much more powerful. The good news is that He isn’t going to pour salt on us. But that should freak us out a little, how big He is. And it should keep driving us to being right with Him. I am not saying that fear should motivate our relationship with Him, but we should have a basic understanding of how massive He is.
Serve Him faithfully. Faithfully. As in not half-heartedly. We get flaky with our faith, though. We serve Him when we feel like it, maybe when things get rough. But we forget Him in the pace of life. We lose track of our relationship, our bibles, and our prayers. I wonder why this is. I mean, when life gets really good, shouldn’t we remember who made it good? Our response should be faithfulness. That’s my commitment today: I will faithfully serve you Lord with my life. In good times and bad, you will be my God. And I’ll even be a little freaked out by You, too.
Abundant Life 