A thought from Calvin

"Now there is a fear which would most willingly flee from the judgment of God but which, being unable to do so, dreads it more than ever. True godliness does not lie here. It consists, rather, of a pure and true zeal which loves God as a real Father and looks up to Him as a real Lord; it embraces His righteousness and detests offending Him more than it does dying.

And all those who have this zeal do not set about rashly fabricating a god in line with their own wishes. Instead they seek the knowledge of the true God from God Himself, and do not conceive of Him as being different from what He reveals Himself to be and what He makes known to them."

These words from the pen of John Calvin in his book A Truth for all Time (which is actually the original edition of the Institutes) caught my attention this afternoon. I have known many Christians that "hear from God". Whether this is a "peace" about a situation or the Lord "impressing" something on our hearts, it is all "fabricating a god in line with their own wishes." When pressed these folks usually admit that whatever they "felt" is not as authoritative as the Word of God and yet many are making decisions based on these subjective feelings rather than on the wisdom that comes from the Bible.

Those who have an awe-filled, God saturated vision of life are those who are spending the most time looking into the place where He has already revealed Himself, in the pages of sacred Scripture. The Word of God has everything that we need for life and godliness. Seek to know God more by carefully studying the Bible. Learn more fully from Him in His Book and leave the feelings and impressions to the foolish and thoughtless opinions of the falsely spiritual. They are an offense to God. We however would rather die than to risk offending our Father.