Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Let’s continue our reverence journey with recognizing the importance of humility in reverence.

Today’s scripture, 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV) says…
[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. [7] Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Consider…
I am not big on rituals and traditions, so I confess I seldom physically get on my knees to pray. However, I do have a contrite spirit. Before you judge me harshly, Psalms 51:16-17 (NIV) says…
[16] You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. [17] My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

You see when I recognize my brokenness, I can better understand and appreciate God’s Holiness.

For example, in Isaiah 6:5 (NIV), the prophet’s response to being in the presence of the Lord was…
[5] “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

This makes me hear Chris Tomlin singing…

We bow our hearts, we bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

Notice God wants our clean hands, which represents how we treat others, and pure hearts, which is represents the Honest, Open and Transparent (HOT) way we communicate with God.

The Holy Spirit is emphasizing that God is more interested in our heart posture than our physical position.

This was made crystal clear with the Apostle Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 2:5-8 (NLT), which says…
[5] You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. [6] Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Notice our Christ-like mindset should be one of humility and obedience.

As I thought about this more, it occurred to me that Jesus said in John 10:17-18 (NIV)…
[17] The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. [18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

God loves us for humbly laying down our lives (clean hands) for others and in obedience to Him (pure heart).

I know this is true because Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) says…
[1] Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. [2] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Humbly being a living sacrifice for others, and yielding our minds to God thinking transformation is what pleases God. It’s one of the ways we reverence Him as Lord over our lives.

But as Philippians 2 pointed out, this heart posture merely copies what Jesus has shown us. In fact 1 John 3:16 (NIV) expressly says…
[16] This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

God wants us to follow Christ’s example of submitted love.

To help me understand this, the Holy Spirit led me to John 15:9-12 (NIV), where Jesus said…
[9] “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. [10] If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. [11] I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. [12] My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

We are loved by God when we love others for Him. But that means everything we do must be for the benefit of others, rather than ourselves. The Holy Spirit guided me to Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV) to emphasize…
[3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Notice, we are told to humbly value others above ourselves.

This makes me hear Mahalia Jackson singing what could have been Christ’s theme song…

If I can help somebody, as I travel along
If I can help somebody, with a word or song
If I can help somebody, from doing wrong
No, my living shall not be in vain

Like Christ, we must be committed to humbly sacrificing ourselves for God’s glory. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 (NIV)…
[16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Notice our good deeds make God shine brightly to others around us. And the Holy Spirit reminded me that a light doesn’t come on by itself, rather it shines when the Master turns it on. That means a light is humbly submitted to the Master’s will.

The last scripture the Lord has given me to emphasize this heart posture of humble sacrifice and submission is Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)…
[1] Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children [2] and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Reverent humility is loving others (clean hands) in obedience to God (pure heart).

So today reverence the Lord with the humble heart of love and obedience that He desires.

Today’s song is…
Humble Heart

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)