28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mark Driscoll says this....
Everything begins and ends, rises and falls, succeeds and fails, based upon your fear of God. Proverbs 1:7 says, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Wise counsel, ample resources, relational support, and even knowledge are of no help to a person who does not fear God. To fear God is just that – to live with a constant deep belief that God sees and knows all, and that you will give an account to him.
Your life, and mine, are driven by fear. The question is not if we will fear, but who we will fear.
To fear the Lord is to consider God above everything and everyone else. To fear the Lord is to do what is right in God’s eyes, even if it means that the outcome will likely not be in our best interest. If we do fear the Lord, then we are guided by the following kinds of questions that help us make godly and wise life decisions:
What does the Bible say?
What godly people can I seek for wise counsel?
How can I best glorify God in this situation?
What does God want me to do?
The default if we do not fear the Lord, is that we fear someone else instead. This is what Proverbs 29:25 means saying, “Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.” To fear people is to hold a person or group of people (parents, friends, spouse, coworkers, etc.) above everyone and everything else. To fear people is to do what other people want you to do, demand that you do, or pressure you to do even if it’s not what God wants you to do. If we do fear people, then we are guided by the following kinds of questions that cause us to make ungodly and unwise life decisions:
What do other people say?
Who can I find to agree with what I want to do?
How can I hide this from God and godly people?
What do other people want me to do?
Biblical counselor Ed Welch says,
Fear in the biblical sense . . . includes being afraid of someone, but it extends to holding someone in awe, being controlled or mastered by people, worshipping other people, putting your trust in people, or needing people. . . . the fear of man can be summarized this way: We replace God with people. Instead of a biblically guided fear of the Lord, we fear others. . . . When we are in our teens, it is called “peer pressure.” When we are older, it is called “people-pleasing.” Recently, it has been called “codependency.”
Who do you fear? Who do you simply require the approval of? Whose praise of you means the world to you? Whose criticism or rejection of you would destroy you? Which person(s) are you different around, adjusting yourself to fit their expectations and becoming who they want you to be, rather than who God made you to be? Who do you sin for? These questions help us to uncover any areas in our life where we are fearing someone other than God.
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: 2 Chronicles 34-36, Matthew 11
No comments:
Post a Comment