“Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”Ephesians 1:2
Good morning! How are you?
Fine. You?
Great!
What if we turned stale greetings into blessings?
When I remember the sweet times that I have had with my daughter, I smile and want to bless her. I recently texted her to remind her of a gift she gave me decades ago. It makes me smile every time I see it or touch it. She saved her allowance and bought a tiny, gold filigree grand piano, complete with miniature sheet music and a fragile bench for my birthday. It still sits on my piano. When I see that little gift, I remember our loving relationship, and I reach out to bless her.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Hebrews 12:28
Have you knelt before the Lord … buried your head in your hands and cried out to the Lord? Perhaps it was after you read a passage in the Bible that completely overwhelmed you with the sense of God’s holiness and your utter sinfulness. Maybe there’s a devastating illness in your family, and you cried out to the Lord. Or you are overwhelmed by an unexpected blessing that is so big that it could have only come from the Lord.
What do you think this man is praying about? Whatever it is, he is praying with reverence, with humility, with respect to God Almighty … with godly fear.
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”Isaiah 6:1-7
Do you remember Sammy Davis Jr? This amazing man sang, danced, acted, and joked his way into my heart. He visited Clark AB in the Philippines and performed for the troops when Keith was stationed there. Keith and I were fortunate enough to attend a reception with him after the performance. Although he walked by, I was in so much awe of him that I didn’t stick my hand out to shake his hand until Keith got frustrated with me and pushed me to shake his hand!
If I was in that much awe of Sammy Davis Jr., how much more awestruck am I going to be when I approach the throne of grace and mercy?
