Losing Respect for God

Deuteronomy 32:15

But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

A troubling statement is made in the verse above when it says about Jeshurun that he lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. This Rock is talking about God. The word esteemed means to respect or admire. Somehow, Jeshurun lost respect for God. How in the world could anybody lose esteem for God and hold Him up as the God that He is? This is the God who parted the Red Sea, delivered them from Egypt, blessed them in the wilderness, fed them along the way, gave water from a rock, flesh to eat, and protected them from their enemies. Somehow, they lightly esteemed their Rock of their salvation. Certainly, this is a sad commentary about Jeshurun.

However, we criticize Jeshurun for losing respect and admiration for God, yet many believers lightly esteem the Rock of their salvation. Let's face it, if we held God in the admiration and respect that He deserves, we would not live a life of sin. If we esteemed God highly, we would have no problem giving our lives to serve Him. If we held God in high esteem, we would not complain about paying tithes to Him, or miss one church service or day of walking with Him. Now, how does a person lightly esteem the Rock of their salvation?

First, you take Him for granted. It is easy to take God for granted when you are in His presence all the time. A person who will not take God's presence for granted does so by character. The fact that we can come to God at any moment, and pray and read His Word can make it easy to take Him for granted. If you are not going to take God for granted, you must do so by character. You must constantly keep God as God in your mind if you will not take Him for granted and lose the esteem that you initially had for Him when you got saved.

Second, familiarity has caused many to lose respect and admiration for God. Now, this is not God's fault; this is your fault. We often lose the respect and admiration of a pastor or even a spouse when we are around them all the time because of familiarity. When you live a holy life, familiarity will never cause you to lose respect for your holy God, but it will cause you to hold Him in high esteem. When God is sacred, it will be an honor to live with Him in His yoke of service.

Third, worldliness has caused many to lose respect and admiration for God. You cannot live for the world and keep God in high esteem. Worldly living always causes people to consider God as an albatross instead of keeping Him in the highest esteem. We have to live in the world, but we don't have to be of the world. If you keep God in high esteem, you will never replace God with worldliness.

Fourth, self-made problems have caused many to lose respect and admiration for God. Just because you have gotten yourself into trouble does not mean that you should lose respect for God. The fact that God would even continue to be with us in our self-made problems should cause us to hold Him in high esteem.

My friend, God deserves the highest respect, for He is a holy God. Don't let these four things cause you to lose the esteem for God that you should have. Never lightly esteem God, but always count it the greatest honor of your life that He is your God and your Saviour.