The fear of the Lord

We have all probably heard by now of the terrible movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. What a tragedy to happen to so many innocent people. We may be wondering right now why anyone would do what the shooter did. Was it because he was sick or mentally disturbed? I saw a post on Facebook the other day that helped me understand the situation better. The post pointed out that the man has no fear of God and no moral decency and therefore would have no problem doing what he did. In my opinion, this could not be more correct. While the man could be sick in some way, the fact that he has no fear for God allows him to do whatever he wants without being bothered by his conscience.

Abraham thought about the people of Gerar this way. That is why he lied to Abimelech about Sarah being his sister. Abraham said in Genesis 20:11, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.” Abraham feared those who did not fear God.

These two examples show us how important it is to fear God. Without it we would so easily fall prey to Satan. Fear of God will always encourage us to do right and to hold on to moral principles so that we will keep ourselves from sin. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” If we want to have wisdom and be close to our Creator, we must have respect for Him as our Creator, realizing He will judge us in the end. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Judgment is coming! Don't be in sin when it arrives because it truly will be fearful to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).

Jonathan Glaesemann