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"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7
In Proverbs, and all throughout the Bible, we are told to fear the Lord. We read Biblical accounts of people bowing down to the Lord, revering the Lord, but how often do we see this today? Today's society focuses on building a relationship of love with God, but not so much emphasis is put on the respect we are to have for him.
What else does Proverbs tells us about the fear of the Lord?
1) It is to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13)
2) It adds days to our lives. (Proverbs 10:27)
3) In it, there is strong confidence. (Proverbs 14:26)
4) It is the fountain of life. (Proverbs 14:27)
Fearing God was not only for the Jewish people. New Testament Christians are also to fear the Lord.
"Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." Acts 9:31
"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." II Corinthians 7:1
"Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Ephesians 5:21
"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Hebrews 12:28
Let us find fear for the Lord once again, for without it, we are in sin. (Romans 3:18) If we truly feared God, we would cling more closely to his word and strive to live a life pleasing to him. Without the fear, we put our earthly desires above God's plan for us. We pretend that there is no possibility for eternal punishment away from God, or at least not today. "I'll make up for today with tomorrow" is the attitude many of us have. Many of us do not start to fear God until our deaths are eminent. A close call with death usually draws us closer to God, at least for a limited time. Our nation was in prayer on Sept. 11, 2001, but in the weeks following, we went back to our regular ways. Let us acknowledge God's true greatness and live each and every day with a healthy fear of God.
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