Reverence Redefined to Praise The Worthy One Even MORE

In her Bible Study, Breath, Beth Moore states that we are losing reverence. But the thought lingers in my mind and I can't help but wonder if our country ever truly knew the meaning of reverence to the Lord? 

In conversation, the first things mentioned about reverence and what reverence our country is losing was dress. Why don't we wear dresses and suits anymore? Where has our Sunday best gone? We are taught reverence as a young age as we are taught that kids need to sit still and be quiet and they have no place to run about the alter, the foot of the cross. We are taught that reverence means that we accept God's word without question. We don't ask questions, we don't wonder why somethings are stated because reverence is more important than understanding. 

And as I sit here typing... it is a tragedy that these rules do not show God reverence but they do keep people coming to Him. I do want my children to run freely to the alter. I want them to feel like they belong at the foot of the cross because I don't. I don't. When I preach, I always end with an alter call because I am trained to but to be honest, I don't feel like I belong there because I was always told that is for people going through "really bad stuff". Yes, I went to the alter when we lost our son... but that was "really bad stuff". We lose sight that the cross was for the sinner not that person going through grief. We lose sight that not just some people should be falling before the foot of the cross but we all should be. The foot of the cross is where we belong but yet, we have mostly been trained to not go there. Yes, you can go to the foot of the cross anywhere you are. You can make anywhere you are an alter but do we cling to that because we don't want to be one of the people going through "really bad stuff"? 

The Israelite's wore formal wear to feasts but they also would put on sackcloths and ashes as reverence and humbleness as they confessed their sin and unworthiness.  Daniel in Daniel chapter 9 put on sackcloth and ashes. They humbled themselves to dirty rags for a God who is overwhelmingly worthy in an act of reverence. And I can't help but ask the question, Why would we dress up to go to the Father's house when we have His Spirit in us and we meet with him in our yoga pants and bedhead before our cup of coffee? We act like dressing up on Sunday will impress or show Him more respect when really when we fall to our knees in tears in our yoga pants with baby spit up on our shoulder and our hair hasn't been washed for days because motherhood happens... and we seek Him with everything in our soul. We hit our knees seeking His wisdom because what if we are doing this motherhood thing all wrong? Is that really less than the dressed up Sunday service? No. 

When I think of reverence to the Lord, I think of a woman coming as she is and washing Jesus' feet with her tears and perfume. Giving Him everything that she has to give. That is what I think about reverence. It is laying it all emotionally and physically before the Lord. It doesn't matter if I am wearing blue jeans or leggings (gasp) or if I am wearing a dress. It is if I am willing to empty myself before Him and still have a "Here I am! Send Me" attitude. It is a matter of heart not action. Faith not works. A very old lesson that needs reminding everyday. 

God doesn't care if I am wearing my Colts jersey on Sunday (He is obviously not a Colts fan either....) what He cares about is if I am coming to fellowship with my church family and if I am fully into seeking Him. Clothes mean nothing to a God who created us naked and just asked us to obey Him. Now since the fall, we are called to dress modestly but to remember that mode of dress means nothing to a God that died on the cross for our soul. In fact, He flipped over tables because they were blocking people and not allowing them to come to His house. Jesus flipped tables because they were sitting in the only place that the "least of these" could come to. I wonder how many dress code rules and worship rules He would flip today? Let the people come as they are. Reverence is a heart condition more than it is if people wear a certain outfit. 

I am 27 years old. I will be looked at as "a flaw of a generation" to the older generation every time I show up in blue jeans but I would rather wear blue jeans to church and allow the lady who is seeking Him to feel she belongs than dress up and make her feel like she still is not good enough. The truth is... God does not see our dress or our clothes. He sees dirty rags or He sees us clothed in His Righteousness if we accept Him. He doesn't care if you are wearing clothes from WalMart or if you are wearing clothes from an expensive store. Our God sees much more than our physical dress. He sees our Spiritual dress. 

Reverence has nothing to do with the type of clothes but everything to do with what you do at His feet.