The Fear of the Lord!

 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." -Psalm 1:7

Do you fear God?

I feel like that's a fair question, especially nowadays. How many people actually fear God? There's a lot of people who are living like they're not afraid of what God can (and does) do to those who disobey Him. Just look around and it's not hard to tell. God says that lying is wrong, but so many people, famous or not, lie every day. God says not to make any other idols over Him, yet how many people spend their days on social media or prioritize learning trivia about a celebrity or sports team instead of spending time in the Word and imprinting it on their minds and hearts? God says we are all fearfully and wonderfully made, but instead of responding joyfully to how God made them, many decide to take on an identity different than the one God gave them. 

However, even if people do they fear God, do they fear Him the right way?

When God told the Israelites to enter the Promised Land in the Old Testament, a woman named Rahab said that the people there knew God was with Israel and melted with fear because God promised to wipe out the people living in Israel's inheritance. However, their fear didn't inspire any change. They were afraid of God and what He could, and would, do to them, but instead of choosing to worship and honor and live for Him, they continued living sinfully in fear of what was coming. 

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, but if you don't move past the beginning and step into the knowledge and wisdom of following God and living for Him, you're not going to get far. 

Fearing God is step 1. If you don't fear God and in turn follow Him, you're going to receive judgment from Him. When Israel stopped fearing God, they turned to evil and abandoned what God had taught them. As a result, God punished Israel for their disobedience and subjected them to slavery, oppression, or sometimes even exile from the Promised Land. When they cried out to Him and turned back towards His ways, acknowledging His power and giving Him glory, then God would redeem them from their punishments and bless them, at least until they turned away again... If you want examples of this, read the Old Testament (honestly just pick somewhere and if you read long enough, you'll see an example of this... I wish I was kidding). It happens over and over and over again in Scripture. Exodus, Judges, and 1 & 2 Kings come to mind with the most obvious examples but there's plenty more to choose from. 

However, fear of the LORD is not the end, but the beginning. Once you fear God, you learn to revere God. We don't really use "revere" much anymore, but it's to pay a respect to, to honor with amazement or fear at how something (or someone) is. We revere, for example, the Mona Lisa. Many people revere their leaders (and Americans at least used to, now it seems like they revere NFL quarterbacks or Taylor Swift more than anything). Oftentimes, we revere people we look up to, or people more powerful than us (like when corporate or an inspector comes to your store and everything has to be perfect for their arrival). It's not that we don't know how to revere someone. We just don't revere God as a society anymore. When you fear and revere the LORD, it leads to action. Because I know how great and powerful God is, I want to obey and worship Him. I don't just want to live in that fear—knowing God has the power to call fire down from heaven, turn oceans to dry land, and wipe out nations—and not do anything about it. I want to take that fear and give God the honor, glory, and respect He deserves! He is a kind, generous, and forgiving God. Yes, He has the power to wipe us all out, but He's still giving us a chance to turn it around and choose Him. After all, He could've chosen to call fire down to swallow you the moment you first sinned, but He didn't. 

It's not just fear either. I'm not going through the day trembling in fear that if I mess up, that's it for me. No no, there's also an awe that comes with that fear. An awe that reveals how mighty God is and how much He must love me to put up with me. It's an overwhelming love, realizing that God is so powerful, yet chooses to love me and forgive me of my screw-ups and sins. Knowing that the LORD who calls fire from heaven, parts the seas, and destroys evil nations—He wants me. Of all the things He could choose to do, He chooses to call me to come close to Him, to obey Him, and to become His child. He does the same for you! It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Without that fear, reverence, and awe, it's hard to fully appreciate the love God has for us. Sure, we can still appreciate it, but it's like a puzzle that's missing a piece. It's good, but it's not all there. There's something more. The fear of God and love of Him put together is what makes a Christian who he or she is. That's what makes us children of God. It's not anything we can do: it's what He can do, and does do, for us. 

That doesn't mean it's always easy or that we'll always be blessed for obedience in the ways we think or want, but God knows best. Acknowledging all that God could do and realizing that He chooses to give me and you life and breath in our lungs every day, that should honestly be blessing enough for us to give each day to Him. After all, we'd be nothing without Him. I may fear God, but I don't live afraid that He'll punish me if I don't get things right. I fear what God could do if I turned away from Him, but know that if I strive to live for Him, that's enough. Honestly, that's all God really wants: people who want to follow Him, and do their best to do so. 

So live with the fear of the LORD, and don't let it go to waste like the people living in the Promised Land. Spoiler alert: they didn't receive the blessings of God because they didn't live out their fear with love (if you want to check it out for yourself, read Joshua in the Bible, at least the first few chapters).

What about you? Do you have any ponderings about the fear of the LORD that I haven't pondered or brought up? Feel free to share!