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Dear Arthur and Sandra:

I have a question to ask. What is fear of God? I've read about how Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son because of fear of God (Genesis 22:12) and many other verses tell of how people who fear Him were upright and blessed. But how does this fit in with obedience due to love?

With respect to fearing God, you are correct in that Scripture is replete with verses instructing and reminding us to fear God. In fact, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

It's funny because one of my colleagues asked what my dreams for my children were. My answer was that they would fear God. He didn't quite understand that either.

First, understand that loving someone and fearing them are not mutually exclusive. It is entirely possible to do both. In fact, all of our close and worthwhile relationships have some element of fear somewhere in them (i.e. I don't fear my children; however, I do "fear" for their future sometimes; I fear they will not know the Lord, make bad decisions, etc. That "fear" drives me to love them more, in action and deed, which is what love really is - action). I also fear Sandra and her displeasure, in a sense, and am thus reminded to treat her properly.

Now with God, first, there actually does need to be an actual fear in some healthy, reverent, respectful sense. After all, as Jesus said, do not fear the one who can kill the body but the One who can kill the soul and cast it to hell (my paraphrase). Someone with that kind of power and ability should be feared in some real sense, don't you think?

I know that my future is entirely in God's hands and control. Do I have a healthy fear of the One in whom my whole being rests? You bet. I try to love Him and obey Him not only because I feel good about Him, but also because I know if I don't, He'll set me straight. And that may be painful - I "fear" His discipline and correction

Incidentally, we always fear the holy, even if the holy is good, because of how different and other worldly the holy is. The holy is so distinct from us that it causes a discomfort and trembling within us.

Second, we are to fear God in the reverential sense also, perhaps somewhat like we "fear" our parents. We love them and fear them at the same time. We fear their disapproval, their displeasure, and even their judgments and punishment toward our poor behavior. I don't know how many times I've heard kids say that they study so hard for fear of their parents.

Again, this fear is not incompatible with love, but is rather a necessary component of it.

Third, fearing God sets us in the proper place before Him. When we get too "buddy,buddy" or chummy with Him, we tend to become complacent, lackadaisical, less respectful, and take Him for granted, just like we do in any relationship that we've let our guard down (i.e. parents, spouse, kids, friends, etc.)

Fearing Him keeps us humble as it reminds us that our life is dependent on Him. Thus, we are reminded that we are the creatures and He is the Creator; we are below, He is above; we are dependent, He is independent, etc.

I gotta go now. Are you starting to get the point? Let me know what you think, OK?

Blessings,

Arthur

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Total Devotion is the High School Fellowship at Mandarin Baptist Church of Los Angeles.

Total Devotion meets on every Friday night from 730 PM to 10 PM in Room 131 except for the last Friday of each month.