Moses said to the people,  “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”  Exodus 20:20 ESV

Here Moses tells the people not to fear.  In Joshua 1:9, Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous?  Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We are clearly told in many passages of scripture not to fear.  I have been told that the term “do not fear” is in the Bible 365 times, once for every day of they year.  I have never counted them to see for myself, but this is what I’ve been told.  So the Bible is very clear on the fact that we are not to fear, for fear is the opposite of faith.  We can’t be fearful and faithful at the same time.

However, there are also many scriptures in the Bible that talk about how important it is to fear God.  Proverbs 9:10 tells us, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.  Proverbs 10:27 tells us that, The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.  Proverbs 8:13 tells us that, The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.  Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.  

So we are told not to fear, but we are told that it is very important to fear God.  For those who don’t believe there is certainly the fear of judgement and eternal separation from God.  For those who believe, however, fear of the Lord has a different meaning.  This fear is a reverence and an awe for who God is and the power that He has.   Hebrews 12:28-29 says, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace.  By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. We worship a God that the wind obeys.  We worship a God that can throw mountains into the sea.  We worship a God that detests evil.  The Bible tells us in numerous scripture passages that God hates pride and arrogance.

As a child, growing up with my dad, I learned to hate the things he hated and love the things he loved.  I grew up in the 70’s and early 80’s.  One thing my dad hated was the drugs that were wreaking havoc on our community.  I never dreamed of trying marijuana.  I detested cigarette smoking as I just couldn’t stand the smell.  I never learned to share his love for wrestling, but I loved baseball.  My dad disciplined me when he thought I was getting out of hand.  He felt it was important to teach me to learn to obey certain rules.  Although it really angered me at the time, I am very appreciative of that discipline now.  Hebrews 12:9-10 talks of the discipline that we receive from our earthly fathers and our Heavenly Father.  It says, Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us and we respected them.  Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit so that we can share His holiness.

I feared my Dad’s judgement and wrath.  This is the kind of fear we are to have of God.  We are to love what God loves and hate what God hates.  If we follow the greatest commandment and love God with our whole heart, whole mind and whole soul then this will come much easier.

Some may read our scripture passage for today and think that it is contradictory.  However, know that the Bible is never contradictory.  Over and over the Bible tells us that we are to fear God.  We are to fear his judgement.  The way to not fear his judgement is to accept his son, Jesus Christ as savior and ask the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you.  If we repent of our sins, God is faithful to forgive us.

In closing, let me say this.  If you have a healthy reverential fear of God then you need not fear anything else.  If God is for us, who can be against us  (Romans 8:31).  Our fear for God places us under His hedge of protection.  It allows us to focus on Him and Him alone while we trust in Him to handle all other things.

I pray that you have the peace, comfort and joy that comes from a loving relationship with God the Father.  I pray that you have accepted Christ as you savior and have repented of your sins and are doing your best to please your Heavenly Father.  But if you have not and if you are not, it is not too late.  Turn to Him today.  Give all your fears over to Him and rest in his peaceful presence.

Have a great day!