There is one subject not mentioned in many churches today, and that is the fear of the Lord. What is the fear of the Lord?
It’s an attitude of respect and awe for Almighty God to the point where we will obey His Word. David said in Psalm 119:63, “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.” We know we can call God our “Daddy” or “Father.” We all want to have a loving and close relationship with Him.
But first, we must have a healthy, reverential fear of Him. Martin Luther said, “You must know God as your enemy, before you can know him as your friend.” Proverbs 16:6 states, “By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil.”
It’s the fear that causes us to refrain from sin. In the book of Acts, after Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and fell dead, it states that great fear fell on all the church. Then immediately there were great miracles done by the apostles for the people, and many of them were saved. It is interesting to note that great miracles happened when the church walked in the fear of the Lord. Deuteronomy 6 and Deuteronomy 17 explain that the fear of the Lord is a desire to read and obey His Word daily.
How do we obtain this reverential fear? Psalm 34:11 states that we have to be taught to refrain our tongue from evil, and to depart from evil. Proverbs 2:2 says, “Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.” We won’t really understand it until we have searched the Bible the way we would search for hidden treasure.
God wants us to fear and obey Him because this is the way He rewards us in this life and thereafter. In Deuteronomy 5:29 God said, “Oh, that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever.” God wants to protect and bless us and our families. Proverbs 22:4 says, “By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches, and honor, and life.”
The wisest man that ever lived, except for Jesus, was King Solomon. After a lifetime of astounding achievements, he looked back and summed up life in one statement. He said in Ecclesiastes 12:13, ”Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Many won’t adhere to his insightful advice. Matthew Henry said in his commentary, “We must always have in our minds a reverence of God’s majesty, a dread of His displeasure and an obedient regard to His sovereign authority over us. This fear will quicken us to our duty, and make us circumspect in our walk.”
Some of us think that the fear of the Lord is oppressive or restrictive. Billy Graham said, “God’s commandments were given to protect and promote man’s happiness, not to restrict it.”
In Psalm 34:9, David said, “There is no want to those that fear him.” We will attain the good things God has planned for us and eliminate so many of our problems by walking in the fear of the Lord. The more time we spend in God’s Word, the more we fall in love with Him. Just as David said in Psalm 119:127, “I love thy commandments above gold.”
It won’t be a burden to obey Him, but a delight. Proverbs 8:13 states, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.” We don’t just shun evil, but we grow to the point where we actually hate it.
Search the Bible as for hidden treasure, and truly walk in the fear of the Lord. Choose to please God and then you will enjoy the blessings that He has for you.
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Bill Wiese is the author of New York Times best selling book, “23 Minutes In Hell,” the story of his life-changing visit to hell in 1998. Bill has since authored six additional book titles, and continues to share his experience around the world. He and his wife Annette founded Soul Choice Ministries in late 2006 and have dedicated their lives to reaching the unsaved. For more information about Bill Wiese and Soul Choice Ministries please visit us at: https://soulchoiceministries.org/
You can find more of Bill’s teachings at: https://www.youtube.com/user/BillWieseTV
