You are made for awe.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you! (Psalm 67.3)

This summer, my wife DJ and I celebrated 25 years of marriage.

Unfortunately, with everything else going on, we were not able to celebrate in ways we had dreamed about, but we were able to get some time away to be together and to go to one of our favorite restaurants.

We both love crab, and we both love crab cakes, so we enjoyed a glorious meal at one of our favorite seafood restaurants.  

Everything about the meal was wonderful. Every bite was amazing. We savored the meal, we paused, and talked about how good it was. We took our time, not wanting to waste any bite of food, while also not wanting it to get cold.

Have you ever had a meal like that? Every bite is just delicious. Have you ever paused to reflect on the meal, on what you are doing in that moment? These are some of the emotions we experience in a meal like that. Joy, satisfaction, delight, gladness, wonder, even a little disappointment when it comes to an end. What are those emotions about? What word could we use to sum up those emotions?  Awe.

Awe is the blending together of wonder, excitement, fear, joy, gladness, delight, satisfaction, praise.

You might not experience the emotions of awe during a meal, but you are made to experience awe.

You are made for awe. I am made for awe. We are given senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. Great incredible capacities for awe. We live in a world that is filled with awesome things. We have hearts that long to be captivated by amazement. We are on lifelong pursuits for awe.

This is why God calls us, enables us, and frees us to worship him. We are made for awe of God.  

All the good things that God gifts us in life, all the beauty in the world is intended to point us to a glorious, beautiful, awesome God, who gives us everything we have to enjoy.

Take a moment and pause. Remember that whatever beauty, goodness, delight that you have experienced, today is a gift from an even more awesome God. Thank him. Pause a praise him for the gifts. Ask him for eyes to see and ears to hear of his awesomeness.