Hebrews 12:28 "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us be gracious, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."
To exalt, or in other words, bring glory to God, is so much more than just worship, and worship itself is so much more than just singing along with hymns. The book of Hebrews gives us a bit of insight into how bringing glory to God should affect every action we take.
Hebrews 12:28: Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us be gracious, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
What does it mean to exalt?
To serve God with reverence and godly fear is the essence of what it means to bring glory to God. Reverence and Godly fear are sometimes used interchangeably. Are they not the same thing? In our verse, we see that it is stated as two district things that should shape and motivate the ways we serve God. Worship in song and giving for example cannot be accepted with reverence and Godly fear. In the same way, anything we do for His Glory cannot truly glorify Him if we do not do it with reverence and godly fear.
Reverence is to be cautious of God’s greatness and holiness. To see his loving-kindness towards us through the lens of how unfathomably all-powerful and Holy He is. Our actions and thoughts should not offend Him. In this way, our deeds glorify Him.
To have godly fear means to see ourselves rightly in relation to God. It is marked with humility and timidness towards our creator. That doesn’t mean we cannot be ourselves. In fact, we are never more ourselves than when we share openly and honestly with God. However, a child of God should never excuse pride and arrogance towards God as a personality flaw. As a church let us humble ourselves towards God and truly discover what it means to exalt Him.
More on the topic of exaltation
This is one of the mandates of the church today as the body of Christ. In the final chapter of Hebrews are several other passages to consider considering all of this.
Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.”
Hebrews 13:21 says, “equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”