TO FEAR OR NOT TO FEAR: THAT IS THE QUESTION
Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.
Psalms 36:1
Many years ago, I took a seminary intensive class at Southwestern. It was a whole semester crammed into two weeks. The course was language appreciation for Greek and Hebrew. The first assignment was to learn the alphabet. As with any language, unless you know the “A, B, C’s,” you cannot move forward.
When it comes to life, what are the A, B, C’s? God has made it crystal clear: It is the fear of the Lord. God has said fearing Him is the beginning of both knowledge and wisdom (see Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10). If you don’t fear the Lord, you will not and cannot move forward in life. If you don’t fear the Lord, you are a fool of the highest order.
So, what does it mean to fear Him? Does it mean I am shaking in my shoes whenever His name is mentioned? Does it mean I am terrified of God, afraid to come near Him for fear He will zap me? Of course not.
God does not want you to be afraid of Him, He wants you to revere Him. He wants you to stand in awe of Him. He wants you to understand that He is the great and matchless King who is worthy of your wholehearted love, devotion, obedience, and respect. The fear of the Lord is giving God His rightful place as Master—and taking your rightful place as servant.
THE TROUBLE IN OUR WORLD TODAY
Without question, our world is in terrible trouble today. Sin is running rampant. Hell is throwing a party as vice and violence are in every nook and cranny of society. What gives? Why do we see decency, morality, and civility melting away before our eyes like a snow-cone in Phoenix? The answer is simple. There is no longer a fear of God among the populous.
You see, when people quit honoring God as God, when they quit following His rules and moral absolutes, when they go out on their own, refusing to be a servant any longer, when all of that happens, people lose the ability to rightly process life. They may profess themselves as wise, but they are really arrogant fools. Like the captain of the Titanic who went full steam ahead, thinking his ship was unsinkable, we too will find out just how pitifully weak and vulnerable we are without God as our Master.
WHO IS THE LORD?
Pharaoh did not have the fear of the Lord. In fact, Pharaoh fancied himself a god. When confronted by Moses to let Yahweh’s people go, he arrogantly questioned, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice?” He challenged God, and God met the challenge. Plague after plague assailed the land of Egypt. It was God’s way of saying, “Let Me introduce Myself to you, Mr. Pharaoh. I am God, and there is no other. You are nothing more than a pimple on a flea compared to Me.”
COLLISION COURSE
As with the Titanic and Pharaoh, I believe we are on a collision course with destruction. We have tragically forsaken God. We have arrogantly and idiotically rejected the fear of Him. Make no mistake, there are severe consequences for those who refuse to revere Him. When you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind (see Hosea 8:7).
The time is NOW to repent and cry out for the Master’s mercy. The Lord says, “Return to Me, and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7). The clock is ticking. Will we return to the fear of the Lord, or will we hit the iceberg and sink?
Love,
Pastor Jeff Schreve,
From His Heart Ministries
