Hey You it's Proverbs two!
Yesterday I had a wonderful conversation with a very sweet woman in regards to the phrase " the fear of the Lord". We talked about what that means to us. It had me thinking about what we think of God and who He is. So many of us have read that phrase and thought "what a mean guy to want us to fear Him. " or "why does He want us to be afraid? I thought He loved us."
He does love us. He loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son to pay our debt. To ensure that we had a way past our own sin in order to be with Him for eternity. When we think about the enormity of that love we can trust that it's not that God wants us to fear Him hurting us. A God that loves us to the extent that He does would never desire to hurt us. He does want us to understand how Holy and perfect He is though. If we don't understand His holiness and also agree with Him on the severity of sin, we will never fully grasp Why He had to send His son.
Because if our understanding is that our sin is just kind of bad and He is just sort of good, well then, it just wouldn't take too much to get ourselves to where He is. We must fear Him in the regard that we respect His Authority.
Think back to your childhood. Most of us were not truly afraid that our fathers would "hurt" us. However, we were afraid of getting into trouble. We were afraid of disappointing our father.
It was a sweet conversation that we had. And then, last night my nephew had his confirmation. My husband and I went out to his church to be at his confirmation mass. During the mass the cardinal spoke about the phrase "the fear of the Lord" - God is very kind to continue to reiterate the idea that He does not want us to be afraid of Him, but to have wonder and awe towards Him.
Lo and behold what phrase is in Proverbs two this morning?
Because if our understanding is that our sin is just kind of bad and He is just sort of good, well then, it just wouldn't take too much to get ourselves to where He is. We must fear Him in the regard that we respect His Authority.
Think back to your childhood. Most of us were not truly afraid that our fathers would "hurt" us. However, we were afraid of getting into trouble. We were afraid of disappointing our father.
It was a sweet conversation that we had. And then, last night my nephew had his confirmation. My husband and I went out to his church to be at his confirmation mass. During the mass the cardinal spoke about the phrase "the fear of the Lord" - God is very kind to continue to reiterate the idea that He does not want us to be afraid of Him, but to have wonder and awe towards Him.
Lo and behold what phrase is in Proverbs two this morning?
Very interesting, don't you agree?
And then what else do I come across today while reading Colossians:
Colossians 2:2-3
2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
What a gift God's word is. I am so encouraged to know that God in His holiness reached out to me in my utter wretchedness and made a way for me not only to Him but also to His wisdom.
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