When we hear the words "fear" or "fearful", we think of scary things --- things like spiders, lizards, snakes, frogs....yeah, awful creatures! There's also things like fear of heights, drowning, getting lost, and so on. Eventually we might talk about that kind of fear, for the Bible does have a lot to say about it. However, right now I want to talk about a different kind of fear:
the fear of the LORD.
This, too, is mentioned all throughout the Bible. We hear it said often in church that we should "fear God" or have "fear of the LORD". But once again, sometimes the basics are overlooked and we're left wondering...what IS fear of the LORD, and why is it so important that I have it?
In high school I did an elective on the book of Proverbs (a book of the Bible that talks much about fear of the LORD), and then in college I took a class called "Fear of the LORD". The fear of the LORD is also something my dad preaches often about, so between these three things, my eyes were really opened to look to God in a whole different, more proper way. It is a way that I still stumble in sometimes, but I get back up to learn more and more just how important it is to live in the fear of the LORD.
First, let's see what God's definition of this term is - we can find it in Proverbs 1:7 - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Another definition God gives is in Proverbs 9:10 - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."
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Bible Reading: Proverbs 26
I think sometimes we forget how important it is to fear God.
ReplyDeleteThe right kind of fear of the Lord will provoke us to worship. A healthy fear of God recognizes His holiness and is careful not to be flippant of what He calls unholy.
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