The Fear of God
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man – Eccl. 12:13
To fear God is to revere or honor God. It means to have a complete sense of awe and respect for God. It also means to admire profoundly. To fear God does not mean to be afraid of God although God does things that are terrifying and that can make one fearful. When we fear God, it shows in our obedience to God, in righteousness and hatred for every form of evil.
Our obedience to God even when it is hurtful and inconvenient is the demonstration of our fear of God. The Bible says in Jn.14:15 “ if ye love me keep my commandments “ it continues in verse 21 to say that “ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.” The fear of God is demonstrated in the life of Abraham, who obeyed God fully and consistently even to the point of sacrificing his only son Isaac. God said that Abraham feared him because of his obedience. The bible says in Gen.22: 12 “And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” One is not surprised that God called Abraham his friend (Isa.41:8) because he passed the “fear of God “test. To live in righteousness is to demonstrate our fear for God. A life of righteousness is to be morally right or justifiable. Is to live according to a divine or moral law in other to please God. Cornelius demonstrated the fear of God by his righteous lifestyle. He was wholly devoted to God. His lifestyle impacted his family and circle of friends. He prayed to God always and need no preacher to preach arms giving to him before doing this. The Bible called him a man that feared God (Acts. 10:2).
God’s fear is to hate and abstain from evil (Prov. 8:13 & Prov. 16:6). When a man truly fears God, he will not tolerate sin and will not be comfortable with evil. Joseph was a man that hates sin and evil because of his fear of God. When he had the opportunity to mismanage Potiphar’s assets he did not. When he had the chance to have an immoral affair with Potiphar’s wife he did not for he said in Gen.39:9b “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God.” Another man that fears God is Job (Job 1:8).
The fear of God does not mean we will not sometimes sin because we are still human. The Bible says in 2Chro. 6:36b “if they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not).” When a man fears God and sins, he will not justify his sin but somewhat remorseful and fully repent of such sin. David, a man that feared God was remorseful and repented of his sins of adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah when confronted by Prophet Nathan (2Sam. 12:13, Ps. 51:1-19).
The fear of God brings tremendous blessings. It brings God’s kind of wisdom, as demonstrated in the lives of Daniel in Babylon and Joseph in Egypt and the life of Job. The Bible says in Prov.9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” This wisdom unveil to man as they have access to the secrets of God. The Bible says in Ps. 25:14 “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant.” The fear of God brings angelic protection and unstoppable provisions (Ps. 34:7 & 9). It brings mercy (Lk. 1:50), goodness (Ps. 31:19) and acceptance by God (Acts. 10:35).
Lack of fear of God will make men to be Lord to themselves and do whatever is right in their eyes (Judges.17:6 and Judges 21:25). The consequences of this are lack of peace and great vexation (Isa. 48:22, 2Chro. 15:5-6).
The lack of the fear of God makes one lose God’s blessings. Solomon a man who in his later days turned his heart away from God, lost ten out of the 12 tribes of Israel he inherited from father David because he lacked the fear of God (1kg. 11:1-37). The Bible says in Deut. 10:12-14. “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?”
As God Children we need to continually assess our lives whether we fear God or not. This month of November is our prophetic month of the fear of the Lord. Let us pray that God will give us the grace to honor and respect him and repent of our sins. Pastor Tope Dosumu