Are You in AWE of God?!

* This post uses Mark Patterson’s book WILD GOOSE CHASE very heavily as a reference.

“Boredom is the root of all evil." This is a quote from a Danish philosopher and theologian, Soren Kiergard. 

Why are many Christians bored with their faith? The rich young ruler told Jesus he had kept all the commandments. He asked Jesus what else did he need to do to inherit eternal life. How did he know he needed more? HE WAS BORED IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. The Rich Young Ruler’s righteousness was not enough. He needed Jesus’ Righteousness. He had a God-sized hole in his heart that only God could fill.

God says we need to be like children to enter the kingdom of God. One characteristic children possess is being in awe. We are so blessed that we start taking things for granite. And the older we get, the worse it gets—for most of us. We get very accustomed to things like running water, A.C., heaters, cars, good roads, clothes, hospitals, schools, bountiful amounts of food, family, friends,and the list goes on and on. Jesus told us to first seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give us everything we need ( Matthew 6:33 ) But, I think many of us have lost some appreciation for these things!

Here’s the kicker: Many of us take for granite a safe place to worship, good preaching, good Bible teaching, good singing.

Here’s the atom bomb: Many of us take for granite a day (and break it down to a beautiful sunrise, rain, the sunshine on our back, clouds, a beautiful sunset). By the time a child is 10 years old, there have been 3,650 sunrises and 3,650 sunsets. By 50, a person has been alive for 18,250 sunrises and 18,250 sunsets. That is a total of 36,500 sunrises and sunsets! Maybe we have gotten use to the AWE!

Is that it? NO! Many of us have lost our awe of God! We take for granite God’s answer to prayers. We take for granite being able to hold, read and study God’s Word. We take for granite our salvation and the price paid for it. We take for granite the Holy Spirit’s guidance and peace. We take for granite God’s forgiveness. We take for granite that our heavenly Father knows the number of hairs on our head, every tear we cry, and every detail of our life.

If we didn’t take it for granite, wouldn’t we be more thankful? Wouldn’t we enjoy the fact we have been given one more day? Wouldn’t we sing a little louder, praise God a little more? 

Do we need revival? Do we need a kick in the backside from our Heavenly Father? Or do we need more quiet time to KNOW He is God! He is the Great I AM! He is the Giver of Life!

If your aweness is in tact, God bless ya!! But for the rest of us...

We must get back our AWE! For that to happen:

1. We have to live with our eyes and heart wide open.
2. Trust God like a little child trusts.
3. Appreciate the AWESOMENESS of God, His creation, His plan, and other people.

Mark Batterson says look for your God-ordained passion. What makes you sad, mad, or glad. God wants good—the best for us. Let’s use our passion to live and glorify Him!

Final thought: as we look at the variety in nature, consider this. 

In 1885, Wilson Bentley took 5,381 photographs of snowflakes. They were all different!

I WANT TO BE IN AWE EVERYDAY!!