12 Steps To Heaven: #8, Honor Your Brethren Who Fear God
Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?...
He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
Psalm 15:1-4 (NKJV)
Soon after I committed to Jesus, I remained somewhat uncomfortable with the biblical command to FEAR God. In my impudent immaturity…
Baby-Christian-Carey believed she (I) had the way and means to understand God. Therein, the seeming incongruity of fear and love toward God confused me.
A Christian friend told me 'Fear of the Lord' actually meant 'reverential awe.' I was placated.
In retrospect, I think she was half-right:
God should be seen with reverential awe…
But at the same time… with literal fear:
Says Who?
Jesus! 'I will warn you Whom to fear: fear the One Who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! (Luke 12:5).
Why?
In the words of another lady-friend: 'The Lord don't play.' (That's the other half.)
To the Bestower of perfect justice, crime and punishment are dreadfully real… Just as real as devotion and rewards.
Consider these Bible definitions:
'The fear of the Lord is to hate evil' (Proverbs 8:13).
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge' (Proverbs 1:7) and 'The beginning of wisdom' (Psalm 111:10).
'In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence... a place of refuge... a fountain of life' (Proverbs 14:26-27)--and 'His mercy' (Luke 1:50).
For Jesus-saved, Heaven-bound believers, the fear of the Lord brings everything good… including His correction when needed. If we feared a good parent's discipline, much more should we fear that of our Father. As we know, in both cases, they’re needed! *
For (presently) Earth-bound unbelievers, we should fear FOR them--and heed His Command: the Great Commission!
Two other “Must-Do’s:”
We must love, assist and pray for our kin: 'Honor those who fear the Lord,'
We must show respect to other people who fear the Lord from other religions--even if they don't (yet) know Christ as King…
Because devoted worshippers of God may meet the King of kings at their live’s end. God puts it this way:
'I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My Voice; and they will become one flock with one Shepherd' (John 10:16).
12 Steps To Heaven: #8, Honor Your Brethren Who Fear God (Part 10)
'Fear of the Lord' brief article: http://www.gotquestions.org/fear-God.html
* 'The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them, Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:9-11).
NOTE: God is my Ghostwriter. If what I write is good, it’s from God. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players.’ Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings. Parts of this series are edits of a prior Carey Lewis Devotion series, first published in 2014.