Reverence - May
As Moses approached the presence of God in the burning bush, God said to him: ‘Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ This scene captures something of the essence of ‘reverence.’
Reverence is the proper human response to what is holy and sacred. It is related to awe and respect. It is this profound respect that is expressed in the Biblical phrase ‘the fear of the Lord’. This is not fear in the sense of terror or abject grovelling but a reverent acknowledgment of God’s greatness and our complete dependence.
Such reverence is the proper response to the mystery of life and death, or to the created world in which we live.
This profound respect for God is the spring from which true worship flows.
Although only God is truly worthy of reverence and worship, the Bible also contains the related concept of ‘honouring’. We are asked to honour one another and one of the ten commandments instructs us to honour our father and mother.