The Price of His Glory

The Price of His Glory

Some of the events of Old Testament times simply fill me with awe, wonder, and a yearning for the Lord to move among us and do it again. These are not great events like the parting of the Red Sea or the walls of Jericho falling down. Mighty events though they were, I can accept them and move on. But there were some events that I read and read again – filled with wonder and I invariably end ut weeping before the Lord asking for a repeat of the event.

One such event is related for us in 2 chronicles 5:13-14 “Then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,  so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” Can you imagine what that was like? The presence and the power of God filling the room so nobody could stand. His wonderful glory shining all around you – blinding bright – pure and matchless.

I suspect my tears at the thought of it are because of my own unfitness to be there myself. My unclean state would not be allowed to pollute the holiness and purity of God’s presence. Yet there is hope but it comes at a price and I call that the Price of His Glory.

Joshua 3:5 “Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” Our pastor today spoke on this a little bit. Afterwards I observed that he had “peeled a layer off the onion”. In other words, he had started to prepare us and he started to deal with our natural obduracy – one layer at a time – just like an onion. I also observed that, as with peeling a real onion, there would be tears – tears of repentance and of joy. We have, I believe, taken the first step to paying the price of His glory.

Consecrate yourselves, prepare, get ready for God is about to move among us. Clean ourselves up with God’s help. He is about to show us His glory and fill His temple with His presence and that is where we shall see His Shekina Glory. See it mark you, not just feel it or imagine it or anything else – we shall see it.

A word of warning – do not treat His presence lightly nor without respect and reverence. The Lord is a Holy God and will depart from us if we disrespect Him.