We are told in (Ecclesiastes 12:13): “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” You mean to say we are commanded to fear God? Yes, we are, and since God is a loving God this type of fear must be a good thing since God always desires to bless His children.
Just what does it mean to fear the Lord? When the Bible says that we are to have the “fear of the Lord,” always before us, it means that we should have a deep respect, reverence, and holy awe for our heavenly Father at all times. A proper “fear of the Lord” should cause us to love God more and be afraid of Him less. A fascinating verse can be found in (Exodus 20:20) where we read: “And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.’” Notice in the first use of the word fear Moses is telling God’s people not to be afraid of God. But in the second use of the word fear, Moses tells the Israelites to fear God. God loves us and wants to build an intimate relationship with us. And just as He showers His love on us He wants us to show our love for Him – and the way we do this is to respect, reverence, and hold Him in awe; or to fear Him.
God is looking for the attitude of our hearts and the best way I can phrase reverential fear is for us to have a wholesome dread of displeasing Him. We should always have an attitude of respect and a response of reverence toward God in everything we do. This constant state of being in fear of God is the key to enjoying a blessed life here on earth. And the more you fall in love with Jesus, the more reverence you will have for Him, and the less you will want to do anything that displeases Him.
And here is one of the greatest blessings that I have learned from searching the Scriptures on this theme of the fear of the Lord. It can be found in the second part of (Proverbs 16:6) which says: “…And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” You see Jesus wants us to always do the right thing and not sin. And the best way not to sin is to have so much respect, awe, and love for Him that we would never want to displease Him or bring reproach to His name. I have found in my own life that the more I reflect on just how wonderful Jesus is, that I desire to want to please Him in everything I do. This positive way of viewing the fear of the Lord is so healthy and is the best way to live our lives – always striving to please Jesus and bring Him glory.
And while our motivation shouldn’t be to get a blessing by living a life of reverence to God, the reality is when we do properly fear the Lord, God promises to rain down His blessings on us. God wants us to obey Him not because He is on an ego trip, but when we do, we unlock a myriad of blessings in our lives. I encourage you to do a word study on the fear of the Lord and see the blessings that follow this attitude of heart and walk of obedience. Some of the blessings include: gaining wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. In addition, we can prolong our lives and live with confidence. And we can obtain peace and joy as we journey through life.
The next time you are tempted to sin meditate on (Proverbs 16:6) – it is the best way I know of not to sin. The more you reverence Jesus and fall in love with Him, the less you will want to sin and displease Him. Holy awe has a wonderful way of stopping sin in its tracks.
This message will, hopefully, ease the mind of a lot of people.
And encourage them.