Scary God

Fear God, give glory to him for the hour of his judgement is come. Sounds scary if I think of this text in a negative tone. Could there be a big all-powerful killing God hidden behind the text? Does that sound right? How about this; Respect God and acknowledge his other-centeredness because the time is coming when he will decide if you are other-centered, or self-centered. There is a component of other-centeredness that is connected with the Sabbath that helps illustrate this. I'll finish this in the morning. 


Next morning. Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath. That's work by any normal definition of the word. The Jewish leaders could not see the hand. All the could see is that he broke the Sabbath. 


Ellen White writes in Desire or Ages in many places and in Christ's Object Lessons that healing people on the Sabbath was a common thing that He did. In Desire of Ages she writes that in one town he healed so many people that no one was sick there. My point is that Jesus Himself said, I came not to be served but to serve." or another way of saying it, "I came not to be waited on, be called a big wig, or brag about how much more superior I am than all of you or walk around and let you lick my boots, I came to serve! To be other-centered toward you --even on the Sabbath. If Jesus says that the reason He came was to serve then how can seeing Jesus in this way be a narrow view. His glory is his other-centeredness. We give Him glory when we are other-centered too and the pharisees couldn't see this. In our daily life we give God glory when we do things unselfishly and rely on Him. Love is not Scary, God is Love.