Fear of God
You know, I had a great dad. He died in 1996, and I still miss him so much. He was that kind of dad, the kind who ought never die.
He taught me to fear God. I don't mean that he used to give me talks about fearing God, but I think I know what fearing God means because of my dad. He was 6'4" and weighed as much as 250. Very athletic. Big hands. And kind. But he made sure we behaved properly.
So here's this big handsome guy who loved us a lot, was totally devoted to us, and made us respect the rules. I wasn't terrified of him. I always wanted to be with him. But I also feared him. What I mean by that is that I knew what would happen to me if I crossed the line. If he came home from work and I had refused to do the chores he left for me, or if I sassed my mother, or if I dared to steal from a store, or did violence to a girl, then I had better be ready.
I liked what got posted on the Vineyard message board http://www.athensvineyard.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=130
about fear of God being a lot like our attitude toward fire. Gotta love it in order to get warm, gotta respect it (read fear) to keep safe.
I've been reading Ephesians. Paul said to submit to one another in the fear of Christ. You never have to submit to someone with whom you always agree. So, for example, we're going to be tempted to stand up to our leaders instead of submitting to them. But instead, we submit OUT OF THE FEAR OF CHRIST. That means our motivation is to please Jesus, and out of love and respect for him, we practice submission to one another.
Besides, we don't want to get into trouble when Jesus gets back.
posted by Kyle | 11:08 PM
4 Comments:
Hi Kyle,
Just happened to wander across your blog site. I haven't seen you in about 20 years, since we were roomies in Lubbock, but I trust everything is going well for you and Robin (and the kids!) I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I'll put up a link on my blog to yours and look in on you again soon.
Hey Kyle,
I found your link off of Loren's blog. It's good to see your heart is still fervent for the Lord.
I have found the fear of the Lord to be something that empowers me to do good. It is a healthy fear, like that you had for your father. It helps keep me from doing things that would hinder my capacity to be in fellowship with my God and that is something I fear more than anything.
I went to a conference recently and got to encounter the Lord as my good friend in fresh ways. I am amazed that He spends time with me as friend and I also know that He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah with a ferocious roar that will one day judge the nations.
I am located at http://berryalvis.blogspot.com
Hi Berry. I've been watching your blog for awhile. I hope the church plant is giving you life. There's a lot of pressure on pastors these days that is more American than it is God, I think.
The plant was a lot of pressure initially but this past year God is speaking to us about being. Our doing comes out of our being with Him. It was a real trasistion coming away from being so involved at Trinity and having so many people to share some of my gifts with. Without really knowing it I had come to find identity in my giftings. The Lord in His graciousness took me through some pruning our first year here and even continues with some now.
For the moment I am crying out for more of Him. I am praying for hunger and thirst related to the person of our Lord. I'll keep watching the blog.
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