“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
Isaiah 33:14, NKJV
We dare not become casual by our contact we have with the Lord. Intimacy is obvious, but it must be done with certain precautions. He asks for us to respond with a sense of holiness. It’s important to Him, and it is vital for us. We must honor Him as the One who is holy.
The closer we come, the more significant our response. We’re carefully monitored to see what we will do after we confront the reality of Him. He insists that we should honor Him as ‘holy.’ He passionately desires and requests that we do what is appropriate and honorable as we meet Him.
Giving Jesus honor is critical to all we say or do.
It should be the first thought of every man or woman who presses in to know Him. Honoring Him as holy is not regarded as an option to be debated or brought out for consideration. It is essential to follow Him faithfully.
He is like a tiger whom we have grabbed by the tail, we have but a few options. One is to release our hold and face the consequences. The second is too hold on to Him with all our strength. He loves those who make the second choice. Grab hold of the Lord Jesus, and hang on for dear life!
He is dangerous, but in a good way.
We should anticipate Him coming and disrupting our Sunday services. Perhaps we need our ushers to hand-out ropes and life-jackets before the service starts. We should expect Him to explode in our congregations in a whirlwind of holy love. He wants us to anticipate His presence.
In Isaiah 33:14 there is something that is needful and mandatory for us to understand about our Father. Often we’ll discover that entering and abiding in His presence requires us to honor His holiness. When we do so, we find we will trigger a response from the Lord, which will it turn be a true blessing to our own souls.
“The moment you come to realize that only a holy God can make a man godly, you are left with no option but to find God, and to know God, and to let God be God in and through you.”
Major Ian Thomas