Psalm 2:11 (ESV) says, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”

Philippians 2:12 says, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Both say, in slightly different ways, that we should fear the Lord and tremble before him. Because he is ever just, and whatever sin we commit must be reckoned with.

As Christians, though, we sometimes take our salvation for granted. We no longer fear nor tremble. We await the Day of the Lord with anticipation and excitement. We pray for it to come sooner rather than later (which I’ve already talked about in a previous entry called “Jesus Come Soon?”)

Someone recently posted on X Amos 5:18-19 (ESV), “Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.”

To which someone else responded, “The scripture you quote is directed at those who are not believers. Believers are to look forward to the day of Christ’s return with joy and hope.”

As to the second, sure, Christians can look forward to not facing God’s judgement, but we are also not supposed to sit back and watch the rest of the world burn.

This morning’s devotional from Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost for His Highest” is called “The Spiritual Sluggard.” In it, he explains the dangers of pulling ourselves out of worldly living in favor of spiritual retirement. Or to quote, “We utilise God for the sake of getting peace and joy, that is, we do not want to realise Jesus Christ, but only our enjoyment of Him.”

We must never forget our salvation isn’t just for our sakes. It’s for the sake of those as yet unsaved.

Or as I responded to the second commentor above: “Personally, sure [we should look forward to the Day of the Lord], but we should also fear and tremble for unbelievers. Our job is to bring them to Jesus so they, too, can avoid God’s judgement and wrath.”

Because as Amos perfectly stated, for far, far too many, The Day of the Lord going to be a terrible, awful, no good, very bad day.