To Hold Him In Awe

Jeremiah 2:19  " 'Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you.  Consider then and... 
     realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the
     LORD your God and have no awe of me,' declares the Lord,
     the LORD Almighty."


Jeremiah 2:26-28  "As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced - they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets.  They say to wood, 'You are my father,' and to stone, 'You gave me birth.'  They have turned their backs to me and not their faces;  yet when they are in trouble, they say, 'Come and save us!'  Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?  Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble!  For you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah."


Jeremiah was a written warning to Judah.  God was not going to put up with Judah's willful disobedience.  A time was coming when they would know His wrath.  (There are glimpses of Judah's future redemption throughout, however.)

I was reading part of chapter two today and the above verses really stuck out to me.  The emboldened text has gone through my head many times and I just can't shake it.  There have been times in the past few days when I have been very convicted about my walk with the Lord.  Where is my awe of HIM?  If I can't see it, surely no one else will either.  My heart is not aching to spend time with Him.  And I know why this is.  I have not made the effort to dwell on His Word and in prayer consistently, daily.  I have not been making it a priority to continually rest in His arms and seek His will.  I have not sat in the quiet and simply marveled at God's majesty in a long time.
I think about my husband and how I love him in an unbelievable way. There is nothing I like better than to sit with him, laugh with him, and spend time admiring him.  He is a gift to me.  If God is supposed to be my number one love, I must do so much more for Him.  Erecting idols in my life - whether it be my husband, children, home, etc... - will bring me nothing but despair in the long run.  I always tell my 4-year-old, "There is nothing more important in life than to love God with all of your heart.  You are to love Him more than you love me and Daddy and brother.  The Bible says, 'Love the Lord with all of your and heart and then love others.' "  He has heard me say this many times.  But do I live it?  I've told him, "I love God most.  He is the most important.  And then, Daddy and you boys are next most important thing in my life."  Words without action are empty.
         
   My faith must be lived out in word and in truth and with action!  

           One thing is certain, I do not want my children to grow up and think of me as a hypocrite.

"Father, I ask you to help me realize the areas in my life where idols have been put up.  Show me the things that keep me from giving all of myself to you.  You are the most important thing.  I ask that you would put a fire in my heart; that nothing would be more important to me than you and that my life would show this.  I want to desire to spend time with you and basque in your glory.  I want to see you lifted up and exalted.  My life needs to radiate this for my childrens' sake and my own.  You deserve sooo much more than I can ever give.  Let there be no wicked way in me.  Keep me close to your heart, Father."