Saturday, April 21, 2018

fear God


In the One Year Bible, we read from Luke 20:27-47 today. We read about the teachers of the law coming to Jesus and trying to trap Him with questions. Of course He answers their questions easily, and then asks them some questions they don't answer so easily.

But it reminds me of something I heard recently. I was listening to a YouTube video about someone coming to know God for the first time. And when they realized that God really was interacting with them, it scared them! That's a common response... like when Peter realized that Jesus was more than just a man... he said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." Many times when Jesus performed miracles, the people asked Him to leave because they were afraid.

That's what the teachers of the law lacked - the fear of God. They didn't realize that Jesus WAS God. But Jesus let us know that the way they treated the poor showed that they didn't fear God. And the fear of God, the Bible tells us, is the beginning of wisdom.

So should we be afraid of God? Well, it STARTS there. But every time God interacts with someone in the Bible, He tells them, "Don't be afraid." So the fear of God - realizing who He is - is the beginning of wisdom. The fool says in his heart there is no God. But then we grow past that fear, and into love. Once we realize that He IS God, but that He loves us (for some reason that I'm not sure we'll ever fully understand)... our fear turns into love in return. We never go back to BEFORE... when we neither feared NOR loved Him. We move past the stage of fear and into something beyond fear - the love of God.

God, thank You for teaching us to fear You - and to move beyond fear into love.

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