"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline (Proverbs 1:7).
This passage in scripture has been troubling to me since the first time I read it, probably twenty years ago. It is strange to say that I have been reading the Bible for twenty years. But, nonetheless, the idea of fearing the one true God - the God who created us and loves us, the God that wants us to live with him in eternity - has troubled me quite a bit. Why would he want us to fear him?
The only explanations I could come up with was that God was not all that good because he wanted us to live in fear of him or that he was just insecure. Both of these ideas contradict the contents of the entire Bible; so, I knew I needed to dismiss these assertions. I know that God is good.
Sitting up late last night reading the scriptures, I came to a conclusion. It was dark, my family was sound asleep, and I realized something profound. Evil is in the world. I have heard many great pastors speak about this evil lurking around us. The Bible talks about it as a thief that wants to steal, to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10). Pastors speak about this topic only to give us warning that we need to not get lazy on our spiritual walk. We need to pursue following Christ with purpose. We must not get weary, or fall asleep. There is an enemy out there. We must stay close to our Creator.
Last night, I realized that when it is dark, and the fear of the enemy is in our hearts, it would be easy to give in to the enemy. We do not want to be devoured by this power source, so it sometimes seems that if we just do as he says, he will not harm us. We fear Satan's power.
This is exactly why we are to fear God, instead! We do not want to give in to the enemy. If he tries to lure us into action, by getting us to fear him, he wins. If we listen to the enemy, he does not protect us. He destroys his prey. Jesus was tempted by Satan, but feared God instead. What a powerful lesson. That is why we are to fear God and not the enemy! What we fear is what we follow. If we fear the enemy, we give in to him. If we fear God, we follow Him. I pray that you fear God, love God, and know that it is He who wants the best for you.
Yours Truly,
Melissa Seng
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