Don’t you love it when things fit together well? That happened yesterday for me as I sat in church and listened to the introductory sermon for the new series called, “Jesus Journey”. The verse “Jesus grew in wisdom” (Luke 2:52) came to my mind and suddenly I realized that my study of the Book of Proverbs would help me to understand exactly what Jesus valued and how He brought God’s kingdom to earth through the way He lived. Jesus knew exactly what it meant to “fear God” – to be awestruck by the awesome plan that His Father had for the ones that He created and loved. Jesus was not only dedicated, but He was enabled, to do what God wanted Him to do. So, Lord, as I look at Jesus, help me to grasp what it means for me to live out today Your ways and Your will – making your Kingdom come to my house and wherever I go. Please . . .
“Fear of the Lord” keeps coming up for me lately, and of course, this lesson is God’s perfect timing! As a small child without any real direction I took this phrase quite literally believing that if bad things happened to me it was because I deserved them. Thanks to some fantastic teaching pastors in my life today I have learned about and am “practicing” God’s grace. By practice, I mean that I don’t always get it perfect. My old hang ups put me back into a place of disappointment in self and a “works” mentality from time to time.
Now I am in awe of God’s attributes and want to be in His perfect will as much as I can – coming from a place of love. However, I am in constant gratitude that Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior died on the cross for my sins and to free me from the law. The fear of the Lord is a gift!