Fear of God
The whole balance of fear vs. faith makes sense, until I get to today’s reading… In my heart, I understand the whole Fear of God thing, but in my head, it’s hard to reconcile. He’s a good God – why should I fear Him?
I’ve heard that it’s okay to think of the word fear to mean respect, which kind of works. But for me, it kind of waters it down, too… Proverbs says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
God is big enough that there’s some mystery to Him – if I could figure Him all the way out, He wouldn’t be that big, now, would He?
Neil: The fear of the Lord is healthy because it is the one fear that expels all other fears.
How does that work? I remember in high school English class reading Jonathan Edwards’ sermon Sinners In the Hands Of an Angry God, and thinking that while it’s all true – God can smote us any time He pleases, God loves us! He doesn’t want to smote us! He wouldn’t have sent His dear Son to die for me if He didn’t love me.
May my familiarity with God never turn into my lack of respect – healthy fear – of Him. May it keep my other troubles in perspective today.
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