I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Isa. 6:1)
I HEAR IT ALL THE TIME. “God understands.” A woman who was leaving her husband because she wasn’t feeling the connection anymore said those exact words to me. Another woman told me she needed Sunday mornings to sleep in. “I mean, I listen to worship music every morning while I’m getting ready for work.”
Sometimes I wonder if we have embraced the idea of Jesus as friend to such a degree that we forget God is the Holy One enthroned on high, where mighty angels exalt Him with beating wings and voices raised. When Isaiah was given this vision of God, he was filled with reverent fear. “‘Woe to me!’ [he] cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty'” (Isa. 6:5).
It’s true that Jesus is the great priest who identifies with us and who makes God accessible to us, but let’s not forget why we need a mediator. God is so highly exalted that we mortals cannot approach Him on our own. He is worshiped in fear and trembling by creatures far more powerful than us. His grace doesn’t excuse poor behavior, and His accessibility doesn’t warrant merely a feel-good moment. He is worthy of our reverent fear. He is worthy.
Make Sunday worship a special time in your week to exalt our Lord.
Heather Gemmen Wilson is the author of the Global Warning Series (Wesleyan Publishing House), a fiction series for preteens. She is married to a Wesleyan pastor and together they have six children.
