The Fear of God

Our generation doesn't recognize the fear of God enough. We focus a lot on the forgiving and loving nature of a friendly Savior and sometimes forget the all mighty, powerful creator that struck Israelites dead in their tracks for their disobedience.

How would we be different if we feared God?

We'd probably be quicker to correct ourselves, and our friends, in our disobedience. We'd probably attend church more regularly and be more attentive. Maybe even dress nicer and have a bit more reverence for the creator - but we'd rather be comfortable and sip on lattes.

When we pray we'd have a bit more reverence in our posture and word choice. We probably wouldn't talk so much about being "pissed off at God." Actually, we'd probably repent of that. We may wrestle with God, but pissed off at the creator of the universe? I don't think so. We might even pray on our knees or fall on our face in submission.

We'd probably give Him more credit for the awesome things He does and might be a little more selective about what we call 'awesome.'

We'd make the effort to pray more and read the Bible more so we can learn what He expects of us. Why is the fear of the Lord the beginning of knowledge? Because when we fear Him we try to learn more about how to please Him. It's kind of like a son's relationship with his father. He learns what's right and wrong so he doesn't get in trouble. He learns to obey.

Yeah, I love my Savior who has compassion and forgiveness for me and who shows me more love than I can even comprehend. But I also need to acknowledge the power of our creator and sustainer with my words and actions - as should we all.