Choose this fear…

Do we have an honest fear of God? It seems as if this fear is scarce these days. Throughout the Bible we are taught to fear the true and living God…but are we seeing that so much today? Well, first of all, what does it mean to fear the LORD? Is it so much a sheer terror that we must flee from His presence? That is only the response of those who know of Him, but do not know Him. (Refer to Revelation 6:15-17) “Fear of the LORD” is not a terror that we must flee from Him, but it is a place of awe, reverence, and humility before Him. When you have an honest fear of God, He is in His rightful place and you are in yours.

Here are some great passages to meditate upon:

“…Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

“The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do [his commandments]: his praise endureth for ever.” (Psalm 111:10)

“The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)

“For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices." (Proverbs 1:29-31)

So what can we learn from these passages?

In my previous post on Eternity it may have seemed like I was trying to put a fear in people concerning hellfire. That was not my intention at all, but only to speak the truth of what the Bible clearly teaches. Above fearing hellfire, people really should be fearing the One who can cast them there; Jesus Himself taught us to fear Him.

Psalms and Proverbs frequently mentions the fear of God: What is the “conclusion of the whole matter?” The answer is to “Fear God, and keep His commandments…” Why? - Because “this is the whole duty of man” and because every single work will be brought into judgment.

Also, we learn that the fear of God is the beginning of heavenly wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. (Sidenote: The reason why I say “heavenly” is because I am referring to godly wisdom, not earthly; See James 3:13-18.) Notice that it says that the fear of the LORD is the very beginning of these things. So it is not by our own doing that we can gain these; it begins with a fear of the One who truly holds all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

One more thing that I learned from these passages is that the main reason why some despise God’s wisdom and instruction, why some hate knowledge of what is good and just, why some reject God’s counsel and reproof, is because they do not choose the fear of the LORD. Solomon wrote about the bitter end of their choice: “Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.”

The LORD’s desire is that we would learn to fear Him all of the days that we live upon this earth. King David learned this fear: You see it in his prayer in 1 Chronicles 16:1-36. How do men learn this fear? - By hearing His word. (Refer to Deuteronomy 4:10.) Our faith in the One we should fear comes by hearing the word of God. (Romans 10:17)

We must remember that the LORD God is truly God and we are the work of His hands; and He is to be feared above all. We, His creation, have often made the tragic mistake of bringing Him down to a lower level or bringing ourselves up to a higher one. This does not show a fear of our God. All of us must examine our own hearts in this. One way of doing so is by looking at the motive of our hearts behind our actions. Are we living lives to please ourselves, to bring glory unto ourselves, or are we living lives to bring glory unto Him?
(1 Corinthians 10:31)


May we choose this fear and aim to give
unto Him the glory due His name,

One Clay Soldier among many