THE FEAR OF THE LORD

Last night at midweek Bible study we talked about the fear of the Lord from the book of Jonah.

Jonah 1:9 (NKJV) 9So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

What is the fear of the Lord? It means to be in awe and reverence of the Lord...to have a healthy respect of Him. We went further to say the fear of the Lord is two-sided:

1) I don't want the Lord to hurt me. Remember when you were a kid and had a healthy respect for your dad? You didn't do some things you wanted to do because you knew it would make your dad mad and you would suffer the consequences.

2) I don't want to hurt the Lord. We fear God because we love Him and don't want to displease Him. He's done so much for us and we want to be grateful children, serving and loving Him till the day we die.

Here are some other scriptures we went over that include the benefits of having the fear of the Lord in your life:

• Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:...



• Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.



• Pro 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence...

The following verses talk about the practicality of our faith. It's not just in belief but in practice:

• (James 2:19) You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe; and tremble!
  
• Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

Hopefully this clarity of the term "fear the Lord" is helpful so we can all enjoy a healthy and thriving relationship with our God!