In this new age, we have lost the reverence of God. We have made God common, regular, relegating God to just the things which comfort us. Father. Healer. Provider. Protector. Deliverer. We have placed Elohim on the same level as Zeus, Astarte, and any number of idols created by the hands of man.

But Proverbs 9:10 says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” What is fear of the Lord? It is awe. Dread. Terror. Acknowledging that we cannot conceive of the one in whom we have believed. Recognizing that God is HOLY, and cannot be approached from a place of commonality and ease in the way we approach our friends. Even as God calls us His friend (Romans 5:1-12; James 2:23; Isaiah 41:8), that friendship rests in the finished work of Christ, whose name rules all names and nothing we have done or could do. Our claim then to that friendship is one-sided, upheld by the very One who saved us—having done so by swearing by Himself and sealing the covenant in His own blood.

Sorry. I got carried away. What I’m saying is that friendship on our end is not really beneficial to God except the Creator’s desire for us to have relationship—fellowship with Him freely. HOWEVER: The closer you get to God, the greater your fear. The more you perceive God’s holiness, the more you understand about all things pertaining to life and godliness. The deeper your understanding of how little you know about GOD and how you can never know GOD fully, the deeper your respect and honor, the richer your love for the ANCIENT OF DAYS Who has called you “friend.”

Repentance is what gets you there.

Repentance is required for holiness—not the weak “I’m sorry” as you vacillate between flesh and emotion and forms of Godliness, but the kind of repentance that makes you turn. Turn from sin, turn from evil, turn from the world, the flesh, and anything that God requires that you leave behind. The loosing of pride, those high things that make you think you can be equal to God, or close enough to be like God without God.

Repent. The Lord is near to those who are broken before Him.

Obedience is how you stay there. Another post for another day.