Original Entry: November 20, 2008
McMinnville, OR
Oh, that
their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so
that it might go well with them and their children forever! Deuteronomy 5:29
Because of
the years dad spent as a coach I have always had tremendous respect for titles.
I still call my old coaches, “Coach” out of respect. You can see my shock when I arrived at Santa Clara University
in 1984 to hear the veteran players address their coaches as “Terry, Butch,
Kenny, and Ron.” It was the first time
in my young life that I saw respect without the acknowledgment of a title.
Conversely,
I led a Bible study in a juvenile hall where all of the wards were compelled to
address me as “Sir.” Obviously they
lacked respect for authority (or they would not be there) yet you wouldn’t know
it by the way they addressed an unknown stranger with such respect.
Respect is
more than words or a title. Respect is something earned something intangible.
Listen to
God’s sigh, “Oh, that their hearts would
be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always….” Fearing God is more than giving Him title in
your life. It is giving Him authority
over your life. It is about giving Him
your life by relentlessly obeying his commands.
To respect
God is to obey God.
Aren’t you
tired of futile titles like, “I am a Christian.” Isn’t it time men of all ages offer him a
life surrounded by the fear of who he really is and what his is capable of
doing?
Men, be
careful about playing and throwing around Christian cliché’s. The greatest title you can offer God is a
life wrapped in obedience.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in
view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and
perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).
