The Long Hard Road, Part 3: The Fear of the Lord

Why do we follow and pursue after God and his attributes? Aren't our sins forgiven and any sin that we commit nailed to Christ's cross? I mean it's hard to pursue godliness. Well, here's one reason. God commands it multiple times in the Bible. When someone becomes a Christian they make a commitment that God will be the Lord of their life. If God is the Lord of my life, I should fear him enough that I will continue walking in a way that pleases him.

"The Fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate."
~Proverbs 8:13

"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life and that your days may be long."
~Deuteronomy 6:1,2

First, what exactly is the "fear of the Lord"? A common definition is "a reverential awe." A deep respect filled with wonder! He has our respect, because he his God and he has all power. He fills us with awe and wonder because of his infinite attributes that our finite minds cannot comprehend.

In the above verses, we have two different examples of what the fear of the Lord causes us to do. The Proverbs verse says that if we fear the Lord we will hate evil. We will not participate in acts of pride or arrogance. Note the last part of the Deuteronomy verses: "that you may fear the Lord your God... by keeping all his statutes and his commandments." We fear the Lord by keeping his rules and following his pathway.

"And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me."

~Jeremiah 32:40

Are you one of God's chosen people? Then you already have the fear of God in you! God has given us the fear of him already. God has planted the seed of fearing him in you already. We need to help it grow, by watering it. We water it by reading and studying his Word. However, we cannot give it growth. God alone gives the growth. We need to pray that the Lord will give growth to it, and do our best to help nurture it.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3