Fear of the Lord

Deuteronomy 5:29 says "Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!"

He has called us to fear Him.

Our small group met in our home last night. We have been doing a new study for the past 4-5 weeks. We are on a journey towards an increased passionate relationship with the Lord.

Some in our group have grown up in the church, some walked away from God and returned and others are baby Christians. But, we all desire the same thing. To know our Saviour more intimately.

Last night our discussion devoloped around the fear of the Lord. We were trying to differentiate between being afraid of God and having a fear of Him.

We wanted to substitute the word fear for perhaps respect or reverence to give us a clearer understanding of the meaning. We just did not like the word fear. We've come so far from legalism and have embraced the Father's heart. We've accepted his love, mercy and forgiveness. Trying to think that we should also be afraid of Him at the same time was a little mind boggling. However,we are not talking about fear in the negative sense.

Our fear of God is what keeps us from sin.

Psalms 111:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments."

We need to not only have revelation of the Father's heart, but also a genuine fear of the Lord.

Let's liken this to a marriage relationship. You love your spouse. You love your marriage. You love your relationship. You love the life you have developed together. You love your children that you have together. You love the home you have together. You love the recreation that you enjoy together. You love the conversations that you have with each other. You love everything about your spouse and your marriage. BUT, that it is not enough.

You could easily take your spouse for granted if you do not have a fear of losing the intimacy that you have developed with each other. No, you shouldn't live in fear of losing your marriage. You need to desire greater intimacy with your husband or wife. Your desire should be to constantly strive towards a greater closeness and trust level.

We can love someone and abuse their trust at the same time. UNLESS, we genuinely fear losing the relationship.

We can love God and live a life of sin. We can go to church, enter into worship, receive from the service, and still live in sin.

We can love God, but we also have to fear not having intimacy with Him.

Fear of the Lord is the gateway to intimacy with Him.