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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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