The Fear of God

 When we read the Bible, we come across some words that have a different meaning than what we would think about today. This makes it difficult to understand the Bible, unless we find out what the authors of the Bible meant. One of those words is the word "fear." When we use the word fear, we usually mean that we are scared of something or someone. That is not exactly what the Bible means, though.

We see this word used at the beginning of the book of Job. We are told that Job "feared" God and did not commit evil. It doesn't mean that he was afraid of God, as much as it means that Job loved the Lord and served Him. (Job 1:9,11) That is why Satan asked God if Job feared God for nothing. He was saying to God that if He would take all of His possessions and family away, Job would not serve Him any more, but he would curse God to His face. That is not what happened, though.

God allowed Satan to take everything from Job except his wife, but Job still loved God and swerved Him. Job was not just serving God because of the blessings God had poured out on him. Job feared God because of who God was to Him. Job knew God as the All-powerful Lord of all. He knew that He was worthy of our service and love, just because of who He is, not because of what He does for us. We all need to learn that truth well.

Yes, when we fear God, we do greatly respect His power and His ability to punish us for our sins. That respect serves as a deterrent to sin and a motivation to do the right things. However, it is much more than that. Our fear of God is that we stand in awe of who He is. We are amazed at His power and His righteousness. We willingly worship and serve such a great God, even if we never receive any blessings, or if all we have is taken from us. So, yes, we should fear God for nothing.

#NHBaptistdotorg

Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 2-4.