Thursday, May 14, 2009

Be Zealous for Fear

Proverbs 14

The fear of the Lord is mentioned four times in this chapter (2, 16, 26, 27) and fifteen times in the entire book. The fear of the Lord is at the core of wisdom (9:10).

The word "fear" in association with God seems to be strange bedfellows. After all, fear is an emotion that can paralyze a person and often keeps one from growing and doing what is right and necessary. This confuses our understanding of the fear of the Lord. Just like so many other good things, man has a tendency to take what is meant to be good and distort it, change it, and abuse it. Sex, power, and wealth are all examples of concepts that were created by God and have tremendous potential for both good and evil. They become perverted when man worships them and covets them for his own selfish glory.

To understand the fear of the Lord we must focus on the purpose and benefits of fear as created by God. Fear is meant to protect us from harm. It keeps us in control so we don't do things that are stupid and destructive. It keeps us from extremes and danger. Fear also has a motivating effect. It keeps us moving forward, growing, striving and learning. After all, who wants to fail a class or be corrected or disciplined? Because we fear our parents, teachers, employers, law enforcement, accountability partners, and our friends, we are motivated to obey, learn, change and to refrain from what is harmful and often destructive.

If our fear is healthy, God-given fear, we will benefit. We will grow closer to the person we fear and we will move farther away from behavior and attitudes that are ultimately destructive. This all flows out of our love and respect of those we fear. We trust them and know they have our best interest at heart. We allow them to have control and influence on our lives because they know the best path for our lives.

Who but God, knows what's best for us. God-created, God-centered fear keeps us away from what is bad and moves us toward what is good. Fear is a controlling emotion. To fear the Lord is to allow Him to control the direction of our life, to move it in the direction of wisdom (9:10) and away from evil (8:13). He loves us and can be trusted. He has our best interest at heart. We wants to take us down the path that leads to wealth (3:7), length of life (10:27; 22:4), a secure fortress (14:26), a fountain of life (14:27; 22:4), honor (15:33; 22:4), contentment (19:23), a life untouched by trouble (19:23), and has a future hope (23:17).

Fear is a controlling emotion. Give God control of your life by fearing Him. Always be zealous for the fear of the Lord (23:17).

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