“And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Exo. 20:19)
“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)
There is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that I fear some may be taking a little too personal. It isn’t quite as belligerent as the wicked who call Him “The big guy upstairs,” but it borders on the disrespectful, for the Living God is Holy, Righteous and True, and we are but dust.
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:4)
It is not like those who believe that He is here to serve us, but it isn’t far from it, for some believe that trials and tribulations should not befall them, because they are loved, that times of sorrow and grief should at best only last for a short amount of time, that pain and suffering only arrive because of our adversary, and that the Lord would never allow certain things to happen to them because they are His. These shy away from certain Scripture verses because they make them feel uncomfortable, yet they have little problem in asking for the most frivolous items, most generally wants that will keep their lives flowing down the path they have chosen.
When the Lord speaks, they will not listen, for it would disrupt that path, when He attempts to convict their heart, they cling on fiercely to the part of it that is still stone, they have ears to hear, but chose what they will hear.
We have no idea what it is going to be like to stand in the presence of the Living God for the first time, I do not think the word “fear” comes close to what we will feel. We will for the very first time come to the truth, the realization of the truth that we are but dust. “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:” (Rev. 1:17)
Not the same fear that the strongest willed man who ever lived will know when he stands before the Lord at the Great White Throne of Judgment, but a fear far beyond reverence, a fear that cannot be comprehended in the human mind.
I do not know what your personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is, but I would question anyone who calls Him their friend, perhaps that is just because that title holds a special meaning in my life, and I do not offer it without much thought.
“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15)
I do not see the Lord speaking to anyone else in those verses but those present, but I could be wrong.
I would ask you to contemplate that word friend as you read this verse. “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (Zech. 13:6)
Do you have a close, personal relationship with the Lord? You should. Do you see Him as your buddy, your pal, or does He hold a place of awe in your heart, is there a reverential fear of the Living God inside of you?
Still think you can just walk into the throne room any time you feel like it? Or do you have the respect that Queen Esther had, and wait for the scepter to be held up?
I ask this question of you, are you taking advantage of the One you call friend, is this friendship you presume upon more one sided than you might like to admit?
I speak only for myself here, I do not see myself standing before the Creator of all reality, but falling as one dead before Him, and until my Lord says I can call Him my Friend, I will not.
