Fear God

Fear God

What does the LORD your God require of you? He requires you to fear him, to live according to his will, to love and worship him with all your heart and soul, and to obey the LORD’s commands and laws that I am giving you today for your own good. –Deuteronomy 10:12-13

To suggest in modern culture that one should fear God is to invite ridicule and perhaps even pity. It seems like an utterly outdated notion that was devised to control behavior and restrict freedom. Even to the biblically initiated, it sounds like an instruction meant for Old Testament times, not for New Testament Christians who breathe in the air of grace, in which “perfect love expels all fear” (1 John 4:18).

We know that anything God requires of us, even his command to fear him, flows from his love for us. The command to fear God is not outdated nor is it limited to Old Testament God followers. Peter wrote, “You must live in reverent fear of him” (1 Peter 1:17). So what does it mean to live in reverent fear of God?

To fear God is to live as if he is your only hope in this dark and dangerous world; and he is. To fear God is to live as if he is your only source of satisfaction; and he is. To fear God is to believe that he will supply all of your needs; and he will. To fear God is to live as if you have been loved supremely and bought at a tremendous price; and you have. To fear God is to “notice how God is both kind and severe . . . severe to those who disobeyed, but kind to you as you continue to trust in his kindness” (Romans 11:22). The more precious Jesus is to us, the less we have to fear from the world around us and the greater our fear of God becomes.

It is our fear of God that protects us from blaming God for the evil around us and especially the evil that has hurt us. The fear of God holds our tongue when we want to accuse God of wrongdoing; it halts our defiant finger-wagging; it humbles us in the midst of our self-righteous anger. Proverbs 9:10 says that “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Do you really want to come to a better understanding of the big picture of what God is doing in the world and in your life? The starting place is to develop a healthy fear of God. Fear the heartbreak of dishonoring him, the tragedy of distrusting him, the consequences of disobeying him. See that he is on your side against any foe that would seek to harm you.

Perfect Love, I’m beginning to see that the more I grow in my fear of you, the less I will fear anything or anyone else.

DIGGING DEEPER