In Genesis 17 the LORD appears before Abram who at this point is ninety-nine years old. As the LORD introduces Himself as El Shaddai (The Almighty God according to Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers) and begins to speak of a covenant between Himself and Abram, Abram falls on his face in response to the presence of the LORD. I can’t imagine what Abram was feeling at this point but I suspect he was overwhelmed by the presence of God.
Just as Abram found himself in the presence of God, every born again believer is in the presence of the Helper promised to us by Jesus Himself in John 14:16. Jesus goes on to tell us in the next verse that this Helper, the Spirit of Truth, will live with us and in us forever. This means we are forever in the presence of the Spirit of Truth as He has come to make His home in our hearts. Think about that for a moment. Shouldn’t we, like Abram, be overwhelmed by the fact that the Spirit of Truth lives in us?
I didn’t understand what that meant when I first became a Christian and I find that I have to remind myself to not get comfortable with His presence. My response to Him should be one of awe and of love, not just a bunch of religious practices done because they are the Christian thing to do. I actively have to choose to love the Lord and not to take His presence for granted in my life. We actively have to choose whether or not we respond with humble adoration to the fact that we are always in the presence of our God.
So I ask you, is your Christian walk a simple religious exercise or do you respond with the awareness that you are in the presence of your Heavenly Father?
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