Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The fear of the LORD ??
Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ..."
It always bugs me when preachers quote Proverbs 1:7 and then say that this means to reverence God. What does that mean, anyway, "to reverence?" I think that whole concept is out of reach for most of us.
Now the opposite: we're told not to fear evil or the evil one. Does that mean we're not to give him reverence? No. It means we're not to be afraid of him.
What's wrong with being afraid of God anyway?
When I read of His appearance in Revelation and think of Him coming in judgment and I picture the possibility of me burning in Hell and the smoke of my torment rising up forever and ever, I am terrified. My heart is humbled in appreciation that He loves me and has released me from my sins by His blood.
When I think of the possibility of Him deciding to be against me - against my life, against my success, against my relationships, against my future, it scares me to death. I never want Him to be set against me. What more terrible opponent could a man have?
I Samuel 12:15
"If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers." How can any man survive if God's hand is against him? No matter where you swim, you'll be washed downstream.
When I think that He has the power, the authority, the right to do whatever He wants with my life: to bless me or to crush me, I am simultaneously afraid and filled with trust.
When I understand that were I to be unfaithful to my wife, that He would destroy my relationship with my wife and family, destroy my business, ruin my life - and that He can do that with just a thought, I am humbled into sobriety.
When I read about sowing and reaping, and then read that He is no respecter of persons, I understand that He has determined that I do not have a favored child status. I cannot begin to think that If I do evil, He will look the other way. If I do evil, evil will come upon me. I am afraid of the possibility of that happening to me.
Yes, I am afraid of God. At the same time I know I am His child: forgiven, cleansed, freed from law by grace, blessed, kept from sin. Blessed because He chose to bless me (I Peter 3:9). Kept because I have asked Him to keep me (Jude 24). I have asked Him to keep me because the alternative is way too frightening for me.
Without fear I would not reverence Him.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ..."
It always bugs me when preachers quote Proverbs 1:7 and then say that this means to reverence God. What does that mean, anyway, "to reverence?" I think that whole concept is out of reach for most of us.
Now the opposite: we're told not to fear evil or the evil one. Does that mean we're not to give him reverence? No. It means we're not to be afraid of him.
What's wrong with being afraid of God anyway?
When I read of His appearance in Revelation and think of Him coming in judgment and I picture the possibility of me burning in Hell and the smoke of my torment rising up forever and ever, I am terrified. My heart is humbled in appreciation that He loves me and has released me from my sins by His blood.
When I think of the possibility of Him deciding to be against me - against my life, against my success, against my relationships, against my future, it scares me to death. I never want Him to be set against me. What more terrible opponent could a man have?
I Samuel 12:15
"If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers." How can any man survive if God's hand is against him? No matter where you swim, you'll be washed downstream.
When I think that He has the power, the authority, the right to do whatever He wants with my life: to bless me or to crush me, I am simultaneously afraid and filled with trust.
When I understand that were I to be unfaithful to my wife, that He would destroy my relationship with my wife and family, destroy my business, ruin my life - and that He can do that with just a thought, I am humbled into sobriety.
When I read about sowing and reaping, and then read that He is no respecter of persons, I understand that He has determined that I do not have a favored child status. I cannot begin to think that If I do evil, He will look the other way. If I do evil, evil will come upon me. I am afraid of the possibility of that happening to me.
Yes, I am afraid of God. At the same time I know I am His child: forgiven, cleansed, freed from law by grace, blessed, kept from sin. Blessed because He chose to bless me (I Peter 3:9). Kept because I have asked Him to keep me (Jude 24). I have asked Him to keep me because the alternative is way too frightening for me.
Without fear I would not reverence Him.
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