What Does It Mean To Fear God?

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DAILY VITAMIN 

- What Does It Mean To Fear God?

"O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him." (Psalm 34:9)

What does it mean to fear God? Does it mean we ought to always shudder at the sound of His Name like the Israelites in the wilderness? If that's what God wanted, Jesus would never have taught us to call Him Father. We are His children; and children do not fear their parents; at least not in the way you think unless you were assaulted as a kid. In a father-child relationship, that fear is translated to reverence, honour and love. So a child do not get scared before the father, but respects, honours and loves him for his role in their lives as biological creator and physical protector, provider and guide. 

Similarly, the fear of the Lord is to honour God, to respect Him and to love Him. What this means is that we put Him first. We think of Him first. We consider His word first. And we seek His way first in everything we do. To fear Him is to trust Him more than we trust anything else there is. This "fear" do not bring torment, but is perfect in love and therefore casts away all other fears and eliminates the craving for sin (Psalm 34:11-14). This is what God wants from us, and He says when we do this, we will always stay blessed (v. 15-22).

Our theme verse says fear the Lord; for there is no lack to them that do. Then verse 10 shows us how we can. "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." Note the word SEEK. It's like Jesus said: "Seek ye first the Kingdom...and all other things shall be added unto you." (Matt 6:33). To fear God is to seek God's say regarding whatever you want to do before considering yours. It's in giving Him that respect.

Hence, know this: God gains nothing from you being "afraid" of Him, because you just might be afraid of the devil and ghosts the same way. So no, that's not what He wants. He wants honour, because whom you honour, you serve; and whom you serve, you learn to love. The fear of the Lord is absolute love. Loving God much more than you love your own self.

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