The Fear of the Lord
July 23, 2016
Devotions:
“In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.”
Proverbs 14:26-27 KJV
As we respect God and listen for His wisdom, putting it first place in our lives, far above the words and wisdom of the world we have a place of refuge, healing and life. The fear of God is to desire God's word far above diamonds, gold, silver, or any kind of riches or fame or power. We know that God ways are flawless and we seek to walk in His paths.
“And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah–jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
Genesis
, 14-18 KJV
The law of first occurance in the Bible says that the first time something is mentioned is the most significant and defines how we look at the other times the word is used.
Here we find the story of Abraham sacrificing His son Isaac even though God had said that from Isaac would come kings and nations. But because Abraham unhesitatingly obeyed God, God proved Abraham and showed that Abraham feared God, that is believed God and His word by obeying even when it seemed totally contradictory to circumstances.
So the fear of the Lord is to so totally believe in God's wisdom that we automatically obey God without questioning. We do not do it out of fear of punishment but out of knowledge that God's wisdom is far superior to our wisdom.