Before the Face of God

by Nick Fox

Coram Deo is the Latin phrase that means "before the face of God." For the past three seasons this has been the team motto of Northland's basketball team. They eat, sleep, and breathe this tiny phrase of "Coram Deo." They were told to live a Coram Deo life, literally to live a life before the face of God. This phrase has become contagious on campus here.

Now what does this Coram Deo life look like? Remember we are not our own, we have been bought with a price… now our response is simply to glorify God with our bodies. We need to recognize that we serve an all-knowing God. How do we then take that truth and plant it deep in our lives? There should be an obvious change in how we go about our lives.

What I'm telling you is stuff that we already know. A Coram Deo life is a gospel-centered life. Think of 1 John 4. It talks about our love for God and our love for one another. The world knows that we are Christians when we love one another. We can't see God, the world can't see God. They can only know God exists by the way we love one another. A Coram Deo lifestyle is one that loves fellow Christians.

Now think of it in regards to our thoughts and our actions. We sin. It is our very nature to sin. God has given us his armor and his strength to defeat this sin. One way to help battle sin is to live day by day before the face of God. You come to a time where you could easily fall and sin, but you refuse because you realize that you are doing this before the face of God. You choose to do the right thing because you are before the face of God.

At Northland, we started selling wristbands that say "Coram Deo" on them. Sure I bought it because it looks cool and it helps support our athletic department, but it’s a reminder to me that I am living before the face of God. How can this be applied to us as believers? We need to remind ourselves of the fact that we are before the face of God. Constant meditation on Scripture, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians are some ways to remind ourselves of this.

In closing I encourage you to live a Coram Deo kind of life. Live a life remembering that you are doing so before the face of God.