Why should we Fear the Lord?
Isn’t Fear a Bad Thing?
If you’re a Christian, you may have heard the term “fear the Lord” or the “fear of God” or something similar. In the world we live in, the term “fear” tends to have a negative connotation alongside it. You fear someone because they’re out to hurt you or someone you love. They could be a generally mean person that attacks others for personal gain. This is just another example of how evil has twisted something else that belongs to the Lord.
Fear is an emotion that triggers your body to be on high alert and to only be paying attention to the thing causing the fear. When you’re afraid of a dangerous situation, you’re not really thinking about your grocery list. With God, fear is your whole being becoming so aware of the majesty of God. To fear the Lord means to revere Him; to be aware of how glorious, powerful, and loving He is. The kind of fear that makes you want to fall over and worship Him forever.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
Psalm 33:8-9 NIV
Benefit of Fearing the Lord
In fearing the Lord, it moves us to complete surrender to who God is and puts us in our place. When our eyes are opened to the holiness of God, we see how much we need Him. His perfection reveals our imperfection. His purity reveals our impurities. His righteousness reveals our unrighteousness. We see how hopeless we are UNTIL we really do surrender our lives to the Lord.
There is one way for us to be cleansed from all of our unrighteousness and be born again into righteousness! (2 Corinthians 5:17-21) We can approach God with confidence because of the pathway that Jesus created through paying all of our debts on the cross. (Hebrews 10:19-22) We are considered, by God, blameless, pure, and holy sons and daughters of God through faith in what Jesus did for us. THAT’S GOOD NEWS!!!
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”
Ephesians 1:3-5 NIV
How do we Get the Fear of the Lord
You can’t really have an emotion towards someone unless you get to know them. You could be walking around New York City and cross paths with a big boss man who runs a lot of businesses and has a lot of connections, but without knowing who this man is, he’s just another guy. It’s the same with God. He did a LOT for you, but if you don’t get to know Him, you won’t really understand why He’s so worthy to be feared and respected.
A really easy way to get to know God is by reading the Bible. He intentionally used people throughout thousands of years to write a collection of stories, poetry, prophecy, letters, etc. to help us understand who God is. If you’ve never read the Bible before, maybe start with the book of John, then maybe Romans. It’s all so good, it’s hard to just pick one, but those would be good starting points.
We’re all learning the character of God and we will continue learning more about God forever! There is no end to God. He is bigger than we can imagine and He is constantly revealing Himself in so many ways. All we have to do is look for Him.
You Can’t be Lukewarm
You can’t have the fear of the Lord and be living for the world. I know that it’s really hard to do that considering the world is where we currently live. As children of God, we have a home in heaven. We are actually ambassadors of heaven representing kingdom culture here on earth to draw the lost to salvation. You’re not representing heaven if you’re indulging in evil.
Imagine you’re in a fairytale and you’re the princess that’s been captured. You’re waiting for your prince charming to come and rescue you. Then he finally does! He conquered hell to get to you and save you from evil. You’re free and you get married and live happily ever after… but you keep living like you’re still in that dungeon and maybe even go back to it. That’s what indulging in the way of the world is like.
God is even better than a prince charming. When we invite Him into our lives and follow Him, we are saved in an instant. It is hard when you try to figure out how to be righteous on your own, but when you look to Jesus, the King of glory, HE will renew your mind. It’s not anything you have to figure out. He wants to journey through this life with you and help you become more like Him every day. It’s a journey worth living!
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 NIV
The Fear of the Lord leads to Happily Ever After
God is better than a fairytale. He’s real. But to keep in line with the fairytale analogy, we really will live happily ever after. He really has rescued us to live with Him for eternity. The only thing He wants from you is your heart. He wants you to surrender to Him and let Him lead you. Let me tell you from experience, my life is so much better when I’m remembering who God is and what He did for me. It truly does make me fear the Lord in the best way.
