Should We Fear God?

Tuesday's Devotion (1-10-06)

"And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job 28:28 (KJV)

Has a minister or someone else ever told you, "Fear the Lord?" They told you to fear the Lord, and you questioned, "How?" This happened to me. I thought, "How am I supposed to fear a loving God?" He's our friend, right? Well, I studied this subject, and I think I studied well. The Bible does tell us to fear God, but it isn't the kind of fear some may think. When I heard that I was supposed to fear God, I immediately thought that I was supposed to be terrified of Him. I almost thought that if He was coming at me, I should run away for my life. That is the kind of fear I imagined, how about you?

I looked into it, and found what most ministers already knew. They know it, and I guess they expect us to know automatically. The fear that the Bible says we're supposed to have towards God is actually respect for God. Reverential fear is what the ministers refer to it as. It's reverence for God. People say that they have fear of the Lord, but then you catch them stealing from you... God says, "Thou shalt not steal." So, if they fear/respect the Lord, then why are they blatantly disobeying His Word? Some of you say, "Well, we're only human. We all sin." True, but some of these people sin on purpose and then use that very excuse! Humanity or ignorance? Fear of the Lord or blasphemy against the Lord? Just something to think about tonight. The Lord knows your heart, He is the only one who knows whether or not you truly respect Him. If you don't truly respect Him, you better pray for that respect to enter into your heart.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message, and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins, and we forgive all those who've wronged us. Please help us to respect you, and your commandments. Draw us closer to you, and don't let us make excuses for our mistakes, only let us make repentance and a truthful apology to you. In Jesus name. A-men!

God bless!

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