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Reverence, Admiration,

             But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (I Peter 3:15)

          Revere: feel deep respect or admiration for.

          How do you behave when you really admire a movie, book, or person? Given five minutes to talk about it or them, would you take ten? Fifteen? An hour? Once in a while, I see post on social media from someone who just noticed something about a scene from a book or movie that is more than a decade old. I’ve heard of people who can tell you statistics from the football season, and intelligently discuss the strong and weak points of teams and players. And somehow, while people may find these admirers boring and may try to avoid them or the topic, people don’t necessarily find them offensive. The same people are likely to assume that if you mention God, you’re out to convert them.

          Maybe this is because when we discuss God, we’re not admiring Him. We are trying to convert them. Don’t get off track here – I’m not saying evangelism is wrong or that people’s salvation should not be sought. I’m aware that our fallen nature will convince people to distrust and attack anyone who discusses salvation. I’m just wondering aloud whether one of our problems is that we are so busy sharing the Roman’s Road or the Four Spiritual Laws and so focused on this person praying “the prayer” that we aren’t speaking of our admiration or reverence for God.

          To always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have, you have to have hope. Reverence and hope are connected, because we can’t have hope if Jesus isn’t who He says He is, and it’s only because He is who He says He is that we can and should revere Him.

          So, what are three things you admire or revere about Christ? What are three things you have hope about because of Him? I don’t know about you, but I  think I need to talk to God about that admiration, reverence, and hope being more than just words I say. As someone used to say – I need to inform my face. Reverance, admiration, and hope need to find a means of expression in my life.

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