Have Christians lost this fear and reverence of God?

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G_D

My daddy was big on reverence during church services. I remember being embarrassed when he stopped his sermons and reprimanded young people or children for talking or giggling during church services. He felt it was very important to respect God’s house! As I listen to the bad news about crime, wars, and unrest in our neighborhoods, I think we have lost an important part of life and worship: Reverential fear of God!

The Jewish people learned hard lessons about reverence and respect for God. The Old Testament is full of God teaching His people how to respect Him. The books of law describe in detail how to worship Yahweh. The Jewish festivals are celebrated each year as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and deliverance. Today, when God’s name is written by those of the Jewish faith, they will write God’s name as “G_D”. The custom of substituting the word “God” with G-d in English is based on the traditional practice in Jewish law of giving God’s Hebrew name a high degree of respect and reverence. When written or printed, God’s Hebrew name (and many of the stand-in names used to refer to God) cannot be erased or destroyed. There is no prohibition in Jewish law against writing out or erasing the word “God” in English. However, many Jews have afforded the word “God” with the same level of respect as the Hebrew equivalents. Because of this, many Jews substitute God with G-d so they can erase or dispose of the writing without showing disrespect to God. Some Jews also use G!d in the same way, utilizing the exclamation point to convey their enthusiasm for Judaism and God.

Have Christians lost this fear and reverence of God? Have we forgotten God’s demand for respect? Have we forgotten the detailed instructions that God taught and demanded of His people? He thought it was important for the children of Israel to understand the importance of reverence and respect. We have become too informal, too familiar, and too slack in respecting God’s house and God’s creation. We have lost something precious!