Never Lose Your Awe

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase, “awe-inspired?” I have, and it got me to thinking about just exactly what the word “awe” truly means. Awe is defined as a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.[1] This reminded me of the many worship songs I know that speak of God being awesome and wonderful. However, do we really take the time to reflect upon what those words deeply mean beyond the melody of music?

Being in awe of God is what propels our worship. Every day, we should experience a new revelation of His awe. Nothing can compare to the beauty of His holiness and the splendor of His glory. It is in worship that we receive this revelation. Psalm 33:8 declares, “Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” When we consider this, how can we not be left in awe of our Savior?

Yet, if we are honest, there are days we allow our awe for Him to diminish. How does this happen? Well, it happens when we give away our attention, affection, and allegiance to pursuits other than His presence. There is nothing on our busy To-Do List that should ever compete for God’s place in our lives. He must be our first thought from the moment we awake. And when the day ends, with great anticipation we must invite Him to consume our thoughts again, even while we are asleep.

When our devotional time of worship with the Lord is compromised, it can become easier than we might realize to lose our awe of God. We must guard carefully our sacred space with Him. Worship dictates our focus. Who or what we focus our attention, affection, and allegiance to, in essence is what we worship.

-To render our attention means to regard with special notice, care, interest and importance.

-To render our affection means to express feelings and a mental state of fondness and liking.

-To render our allegiance means to demonstrate loyalty and commitment.

What has your attention? Who gets your affection? What or to whom do you deem worthy of your allegiance?

My friend, I stand with you to acknowledge that there have been times in my life when I could not honestly answer, “God,” to all of these questions because the truth is, I had lost my awe. If that’s you today, just simply stop, and take a moment to acknowledge that He is more worthy of everything and anyone that seeks to compete with His place in your life. Then, make a decision to do life differently. Only you can evaluate and modify the daily routines and rhythms of your life. I pray that you would make everything and everyone else secondary so that you can live a God-centered life that bears fruit that He is your Lord.

In closing, I would like to leave you with the lyrics of one of my favorite worship songs by Elevation Worship. It is from the song, O Come to the Altar, and it provokes me to worship God in awe:

“Oh what a savior Isn't He wonderful? Sing hallelujah, Christ is risen Bow down before Him For He is Lord of all Sing Hallelujah, Christ is risen”