Daily Devotional, Dec 12, 2023 Both ways

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul," 
Deuteronomy 10:12

Fear is a valid human emotion that occurs naturally from the time we are born. While we are generally programmed to view it negatively since succumbing to it is a form of weakness, psychologists say that a healthy dose of fear protects us from harm.

The bible also tells us about a good kind of fear. The fear of the Lord. Bible scholars explain that fearing God does not mean not wanting to go near Him because He is all high and mighty. Instead it means being humbly awed and amazed with His power and majesty, and just being in His presence awed by everything about Him.

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!" 
Psalm 33:8

“Fearing God” also means dreading to disappoint Him if we fail to abide by His commands. A good analogy is fearing one’s spouse, not because we will be punished or hurt, but because we are afraid to make him feel sad and disappointed because of our actions.

"The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate." Proverbs 8:13

And so, a person who fears the Lord is upright and living the life of obedience to biblical commands and the teachings of Jesus Christ. To such people, the Lord promises overflowing spiritual and material blessings, as well as a bright future. Psalm 112:1-3 summarizes some of the promises to those who fear the Lord:

"Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever."

Apart from tangible blessings, those who fear the Lord are promised a steady mind. In this age of stress, anxiety, and depression, no amount of wealth could buy peace of mind. Indeed, as the scripture says, it is a privilege reserved for those who fully entrust their lives to the Lord, in holy fear. 

"Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!" 
Psalm 34:9

To have no lack, is to feel content and satisfied. On the contrary, worldliness results in discontent. A feeling that breeds covetousness, negativity, and envy.  

"The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm." 
Proverbs 19:23

Also, when we fear the Lord, we will have nothing to be afraid of. We will rest secure under His wings. He is our refuge, our protection. As the popular Psalm 23 says:

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Psalm 23:4

We fear God when we stand in awe of Him. When we realize He has given up His own Son just to save us from Eternal punishment.  When we try our very best to follow His commands so that we will not disappoint Him. 

Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Psalm 112 to dig deeper on today’s topic.

Reflection Question: Do you fear the Lord? Do you stand in awe of His goodness and mighty power?

Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, thank you for being the awesome God that you are. Your strength, power and might is amazing. I will forever stand in awe of your goodness and mercy, and I will try my very best to abide by you. Amen.