The Fear of the Lord
June 10, 2010
Most of us have heard that term for as long as we have been alive. We are told by our parents, pastors, church teachers and leaders that we are to Fear God. I have heard some say it means to reverence God and some say it means to be be freigthened of Him. And frankly, it may include both of these ideas. However, I also think it means to respect Him and to adjust our lives around Him. Positionally we have reverence for our Lord and this reverence becomes practical in how we live and adjust our lives to His holiness. When we exalt His position and adjust practically to His position; the Bible says we gain wisdom.
In a morning devotion I read Prov. 8:13. I am sure I have read it many tmes but this week it touched my heart in a deeper way. The verse answers the question of how we shake out the Fear of the Lord in life decisions. How? We are to hate evil! Simple enough. Hate means to become an enemy of all that is opposed to God’s Way of thinking and acting. The writer helps us by defining what God hates. He says – pride and arrogance, and the evil way. Then he adds – the perverted mouth.
What does all this mean? I think it means that God hates it when we swell up and point fingers at ourselves. One of the definitions of the words pride and arrogance it the word “ornament.” We think of an ornament as something we put on a Christmas tree to be seen and admired. Our Heavenly Father does not like this attitude in our heart. A perverted mouth means to take something and twist it or turn it around to mean something dirty or crass.
The Fear of the Lord acts as a deterrant to this kind of attitude and action. Maybe better said – the Fear of God becomes a guard over my heart and from my heart comes who I really am!!
Father, today may my Fear of You cause me to check my heart and to check my tongue. Help me to realize that when I try to be funny, I could be trying to draw attention to myself and draw attention away from You.
