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| Fear
and Fear |
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| Dee Bowman |
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Fear knows no boundaries.
No matter who you are, how strong you are, or how reputed,
there is something or someone you fear. Fear is part of the
human psyche, part of what makes man what he is.
Fear takes different directions. It ranges from abject fright
to total respect, and it has a part in all of man’s
activities. When we’re small we fear lots of things. We
don’t like the dark. We don’t like strange sounds in the
night. We’re afraid of some people who are bigger or more
powerful than we are. We have lots of fears when we’re
little.
As we grow older the things we fear take on a new perspective,
but the fears are just as real. We fear the possibility of
failure, or we fear the rejection by our fellows, or we fear
the testing of our abilities. Furthermore, as we mature, we
begin to sense a new kind of fear, the need to respect and
regard certain people because of their power or reputation, or
because we admire something special about them. We fear them
in a different way, the way of respect. The things we fear, no
matter the time in our lives, have essentially the same
effect—they make us dread things that are dangerous or not
in our best interests or, in the other direction, they make us
respect and revere someone worthy of our admiration.
Then there’s the fear of death. All men, no matter their
station in life sooner or later come face to face with the
fact of their own mortality. Man fears death more than perhaps
any other thing in life. And with good reason. Dead is the
pale rider, the deadly robber of life, the enemy of every
person. It’s horrible to contemplate one’s own demise. We
dread it with a dread unlike any other. That’s as it should
be, for death spells the end of things here on the earth.
The Scriptures have a great deal to say about fear. They tell
who and what to fear, and even how. For instance, we are told
that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”
(Prov. 1:7). All that life has to offer—everything of any
substance, that is—begins with respect for God. Knowing His
will is the not only the beginning of knowledge, but it is the
beginning place for a happy, profitable life. A lack thereof
very often results in a shattered, unhappy life at the worst
and an unsatisfied one at the best. We best begin at the
beginning.
When Solomon had completed his grand experiment with life, he
offered what he calls “the conclusion to the whole matter:
fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty
of man.” To respect God is to honor not only His person, but
His commandments. His person is so connected to all that He
said that it’s actually impossible to honor Him without
keeping His commandments. The wise man also concludes with
another kind of fear to be considered, for, says he, “God
will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether it be good or whether it be evil.” (Eccl. 12:13-14).
Now that’s a good reason for fear, don’t you think?
Worship is a vital part of reverential fear. Fear prompts
worship by causing us to seek after the Creator, and His
favor, so that He may imbue in us His wonderful grace. In
fact, there is no such thing as acceptable worship without the
foundation of godly fear. The Hebrew writer tells us that,
“having received a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us
have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear.” We even show our respect for God when we
fulfill the various roles He has assigned in our lives. Paul
says, “submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of
God,” (Eph. 5:21) after which he cites the various roles and
their proper observance.
The coming of the day of judgment is reason for both fear and
fear—fear and respect for God as not only the
Judge—respect for Him as our Redeemer. Any time judgment is
involved in a matter, fear is present—and should be. And
nowhere is this more important than at the final judgment, for
it is just that—final. That should send us scurrying as
rapidly as possible toward proper deportment. The Hebrew
writer says it well: “Let us therefore fear, lest a promise
being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. For if we sin willfully after that
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for
of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the
adversaries” (Heb. 10:26-27).
Fear is good. Especially if it causes you to do what you
ought, and be all you should. Let us exercise fear—both
kinds.
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Copyright (C)
2008
Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.
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