In certain situations, casual just isn't appropriate. For example, at private clubs or upscale restaurants you have to dress differently. Men will be met at the door with a "Sorry, sir, you cannot eat here. We require a jacket and tie," if they are dressed too casually. Sometimes even at weddings or special events we find that casual is out.
We meet three different people in Luke chapter 8 who came to Jesus. Though very different, they all have one thing in common: They all fell at Jesus' feet.
It says in Luke 8:27-28, "When Jesus stepped ashore, He was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at His feet."
Then in Luke 8:41 it says, "a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with Him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
Finally in Luke 8:47, we meet a lady who has had a medical problem for 12 years, and she desperately comes to Jesus for a solution. Scripture says, "Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet."
There was a demon-enslaved man, a ruler who was a desperate father of a dying girl, and a hopelessly suffering woman, but the Bible says they all "fell at Jesus' feet."
Modern Christians suffer from a reverence deficit. We are so familiar with Jesus that we are casual in approaching Him. The Bible says we can come boldly, but where is the worship, the reverence, and the awe of realizing whom we're with? We're with the One who is the King, the Lord, the Creator, and the Lamb.
Someday every knee will bow at His name. Too often we come to the Throne Room like to a restaurant - casual. We cruise into Jesus' presence, sit down, and start talking. These people in Luke 8, even the one who was controlled by demons, knew that the place to be is on the ground when you are in front of Jesus Christ.
The Jesus we come to is the One John portrayed in Revelation 1:17 where it says, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead." Maybe it's time we move from our seat to our knees - or even facedown on the ground. There is nothing sacred about posture, but our hearts need humility and awe when we pray. We can enter His Throne Room boldly, we come because of His grace, but let's never forget how awesome this Savior is.
Once you allow yourself to be overwhelmed by Jesus, nothing else is more overwhelming. When the great evangelist Gypsy Smith was 82 and still preaching, someone asked, "How do you have so much energy?" Maybe his answer should be ours as we get close to Jesus: "I've never lost the wonder."