Do you fear Him? Do His completely blinding purity and love cause you to tremble in awe and reverence before Him? Do you shake before His holy perfection? He is holy, holy, holy. Even the angels cannot look upon Him. If you saw Him, as He really is—all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, timeless and perfect—you would fear Him.
Let us remember Abraham—an ordinary man who became the friend of God by fearing and obeying Him. This is the way of true blessing, for “to partake from the divine nature we too must fear God. It may seem strange to us today, but the foundation of all that we are in Christ is based upon a holy and reverent fear of God.” You could do a million great things for God, but it is holy fear and reverence that are so precious in His sight.
Even though obedience is the way of true blessing, it does not guarantee that life will be easy. Following the Lord does not mean we will never face difficulties, persecution or martyrdom. In fact, the disciples who heard Christ call them His friends all lost their lives for the sake of the Gospel. And throughout history, many who have walked intimately with the Lord have faced similar plights. Consider Watchman Nee as just one example of many. During the 1930s, he “relentlessly encouraged the Shanghai Christians to share their faith. His words were hard to ignore: ‘Because you are not witnessing, many have not heard the gospel. They will be eternally separated from God. What a consequence of our apathy! . . . This is my challenge to you. Witness to at least one person a day. Witness to whomever you meet . . . It is time for us to put feet to our faith.’ ”