Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.
What's your fear? Does a day ever go by without you thinking about your fears? Think about it, we fear every time the clock turns the hour. If it's not your bills, its your inadequacies, maybe a sickness or the economy. There seems to be no shortage of fear in our lives today.
Then I read this passage which starts with "Fear of the Lord" and if it wasn't bad enough that we have all these fears, this verse is telling us to fear the Lord? Of course we fear him don't we? Isn't that why we try to turn him off when we are doing something wrong? Can you see yourself driving down the highway 30 miles over the speed limit while singing "How great is our God"? Of course not, because at that point, you probably have AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" blaring out the speakers! Been there, done that!
We do this because we think that the Lord is not always watching us, so when we tune him out like that, we seem to loose fear of him. Think about Adam in the garden after his run in with Satan. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 2:9) Where did Adam go? He knew he had done wrong and he was hiding from God! It's not like God couldn't find him you know.
So now back to "Fear the Lord" - I ask something, how does this make any sense when we know of the grace of God in the new testament? Why should we fear the Lord given that he has given us the ultimate gift of Grace? And could we possibly misunderstand this statement given that when we do wrong things, we fear and hide from God just as Adam did?
After careful thought, I thought of it this way, you tell me what you think. Why should I fear the Lord? Many of us have come to know that God gives us "free will" - but I looked everywhere in the bible and struggled to find where it specifically says that.
So at this point of this message, I took a two month break. I saved the draft and didn't know where to go with this message. Lots has transpired since then and I'm still struggling with the topic. Despite not finding specific information in the Bible about "free will" I reflect on countless stories and accounts throughout the Bible in which "free will" plays such a huge part of the daily human drama.
So I come to the thought, what if we didn't have free will? We would just be drones, taking every command and executing them perfectly in the will of God? How would we even enjoy the fruits of the Spirit? (Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!)
So in my continued search, I found what I think the closest thing that points to free will. How do we find salvation? Some religions have a litany of tasks for you to accomplish in a daily, weekly, yearly and or lifetime basis. Some people rely on self salvation. But in Christianity, you find the ultimate exercise of free will in Romans 10:9-10 to find salvation:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
So while it is God who prompts you to do this in your heart, it is ultimately your faith and free will that activates your salvation which is already bought and paid for. And the gift is simple, with trust and faith in God, you are free from the litany of religious requirements men has created in order to find self-worth.
So when you evaluate "what's your fear?" think of the ultimate choice God has given you to deal with every fear you've ever had in your life. He will never forsake you when you trust in him and he will never let you be without help to conquer these fears.
Trust in him today and move from fear to a world of possibilities.
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