Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
This week in our Core 52 reading, the topic was on wisdom. I very much appreciated his explanation of what it means to fear the Lord. This is a churchy term that I don’t feel is always explained well – why should I fear a God that loves me so much that He sent His Son to die for me?
Healthy Fear of the Lord?
The way Mark E. Moore explains it in the book is that the words “fear” and “love” actually don’t contradict one another. Now that I am a mother myself, I can understand this concept a little bit better! As a mother, I love my daughter immensely and I want her to love me in return. There are times though, when she is disobeying me and I’m laying down the law, that I want her to have a healthy fear of me – this is what causes her to OBEY me.
I also relate this to how I feel about police officers – love might be a bit of a strong word, but I really appreciate what police officers do for society and the safety that they provide me when they are protecting me. I also have a very healthy dose of fear of them, so when they direct me to do something, I’m going to follow their lead.
The same is true of our relationship with God. We can love God with all of our heart and also fear Him. It’s out of fear that we obey His commands, knowing the power that God has and being in awe of Him. Fear of God can actually lead us to praise God more!
One of the verses that I am memorizing that supports this idea is:
Deuteronomy 3:22 “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord himself will fight for you”
I don’t know about you, but this verse brings me great comfort! I have nothing to be afraid of because my God is going before me and fighting for me!
Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise”
Let’s pray:
Abba, thank you for being a God of great power; I stand in awe of You. I honor and respect You. You alone are worthy of eternal praise. Your greatness I will never be able to fathom.
God, I fear You and hold You in reverence. I want to follow and obey Your instructions. Help me not to be like the fool that despises wisdom and instruction, but help me to follow You and be like the one who has good understanding.
Give me strength to endure the trials before me, and help me endure the attacks of the evil one. Thank you for fighting for me. I know that the battle may look bleak, but we have already won the war. Help me keep my eyes focused eternally. Help me to see the overarching story You are writing over all history, so that I don’t get wrapped up in the everyday story of my life.
Thank you for Your immense love that You showed us by sending Jesus. Jesus, thank you for dying for me and bearing the weight of my sin. Thank you for defeating the evil one. I love You and worship You. It’s in Jesus’ victorious name I pray, Amen.
