Discussions from the new Christian Fantasy Novel, Deception of Magic, where Bible and entertaining fantasy come together.
There are many numerous traits, or fruits, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ should strive to have. Matthew 5 lists many, such as generosity, kindness, peacemaker, etc... However, Scripture list two traits over and over with emphasis. Fear of the Lord, and Humility. They can be found many times throughout the Old and New Testaments. The Fear of the Lord, is what we will look at in part 1.
Proverbs 1:7 states, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Other versus (just a few of them) instructing us that wisdom begins with the Fear of the Lord is Job 28:28, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Acts 9:31.
So what is Fear of the Lord? Are we to shake, tremble, scream in terror, every time we approach God? God forbid! The Fear of the Lord mentioned in the Bible is the same kind of fear a child is to have of his godly, earthly father, when he disobeys his father. It is like this, suppose an earthly father instructs his son and his daughter that they are to never ride their bikes on the busy street in front of the house. Being very young, they do not understand the danger associated with riding their bikes on a busy street. However, both know that their father will invoke strict, godly discipline on them if he catches them disobeying him. They have a healthy fear of the consequences of disobeying their father. They are not shaking with fear every time they see their father, but fear the punishment sure to come for disobedience. A Godly father loves his children so much, that he will make sure his children fear the consequences of disobeying him, because the earthly father does not want to have his beloved children “hit by a car on the busy street”.
The Fear of the Lord is the same, and demonstrates the extreme love God has for us. We are to fear disobeying our Heavenly Father, who knows our disobedience to Him will only harm us. We may not fully understand why God orders us not to do certain things, or participate in certain activities, but we should fear the consequences of our disobedience. Our Heavenly Father will “spank” us, out of love, because He does not want us hurt by our sins. Hopefully, we will fear getting a second “spanking” from God, and turn away from the sin that incited us. This, is the Fear of the Lord the Bible talks about.
When I was younger, I struggled with alcohol. After the Lord Jesus found me and saved me, he helped me leave alcohol in my past. However, one day I went to a party. In the end, I nearly died from alcohol poisoning. For years, the smell of any alcoholic drink would make me nauseous. God spanked me hard! It was done out of love, and is a lesson I remember to this day.
The Bible teaches that the beginning of Wisdom is the Fear of the Lord. Why? Because the fear of the Lord leads to obedience. Obedience to God is a sin free life, which God wants all His children to strive for, even though our sin nature will cause us to fail.
There are many numerous traits, or fruits, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ should strive to have. Matthew 5 lists many, such as generosity, kindness, peacemaker, etc... However, Scripture list two traits over and over with emphasis. Fear of the Lord, and Humility. They can be found many times throughout the Old and New Testaments. The Fear of the Lord, is what we will look at in part 1.
Proverbs 1:7 states, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Other versus (just a few of them) instructing us that wisdom begins with the Fear of the Lord is Job 28:28, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Acts 9:31.
So what is Fear of the Lord? Are we to shake, tremble, scream in terror, every time we approach God? God forbid! The Fear of the Lord mentioned in the Bible is the same kind of fear a child is to have of his godly, earthly father, when he disobeys his father. It is like this, suppose an earthly father instructs his son and his daughter that they are to never ride their bikes on the busy street in front of the house. Being very young, they do not understand the danger associated with riding their bikes on a busy street. However, both know that their father will invoke strict, godly discipline on them if he catches them disobeying him. They have a healthy fear of the consequences of disobeying their father. They are not shaking with fear every time they see their father, but fear the punishment sure to come for disobedience. A Godly father loves his children so much, that he will make sure his children fear the consequences of disobeying him, because the earthly father does not want to have his beloved children “hit by a car on the busy street”.
The Fear of the Lord is the same, and demonstrates the extreme love God has for us. We are to fear disobeying our Heavenly Father, who knows our disobedience to Him will only harm us. We may not fully understand why God orders us not to do certain things, or participate in certain activities, but we should fear the consequences of our disobedience. Our Heavenly Father will “spank” us, out of love, because He does not want us hurt by our sins. Hopefully, we will fear getting a second “spanking” from God, and turn away from the sin that incited us. This, is the Fear of the Lord the Bible talks about.
When I was younger, I struggled with alcohol. After the Lord Jesus found me and saved me, he helped me leave alcohol in my past. However, one day I went to a party. In the end, I nearly died from alcohol poisoning. For years, the smell of any alcoholic drink would make me nauseous. God spanked me hard! It was done out of love, and is a lesson I remember to this day.
The Bible teaches that the beginning of Wisdom is the Fear of the Lord. Why? Because the fear of the Lord leads to obedience. Obedience to God is a sin free life, which God wants all His children to strive for, even though our sin nature will cause us to fail.
