Fear of the Lord

As Christians, we know God is love, but sometimes we forget He is also the Almighty, Holy God, and treat him more like a friend than the Creator of the Universe. Proverbs 9:10 reminds us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. This type of fear isn’t being uneasy or afraid in His presence. The right kind of fear is reverence for His holy name, a wholesome respect for His sovereign will. As fear of God increases our pride decreases.

I was in the store the other day when I noticed a small child screaming and crying because she didn’t get the toy she wanted. Her parents probably didn’t discipline her too much and usually gave her whatever she wanted. I thought to myself what a spoiled kid. Like children of a loving Father, who always receives gifts and never fears Him, we can become spoiled too. The very things that God has given us to enjoy might become the very things we replace God with.

Fearing God for me is not so much being worried about losing my salvation, because I know that is secured by the blood of Jesus. What I do fear is enjoying life too much that I become spiritually lazy, and start replacing God with the idols of this world. Idolatry is not just the obvious things like greed, lust, and impurity. Idolatry can take other forms like striving for a good education, success, career, or even raising a good family. This fear of the Lord eventually turns into love when we begin to understand how big God really is and how small we really are, and yet He still sent His only Son to die for us on the Cross. This is the beginning of wisdom.