Living in Awe of Our Heavenly Father

Psalm 25:12

Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

Fear of God can be compared to fear of one's earthly father.  While we fear punishment from our earthly father, it is the fear of offending the one we hold dearest that is so powerful.  It is the fear of disappointing the one that we want to please the most.  It is the fear of not living up to the expectations of the one that we hold in the highest place in our lives.  It is the fear of losing closeness with the one we desire to be closest to.  It is this fear that holds us in line when the world is trying to pull us out of line.

As good sons and daughters, we live in awe of the highest authority figures in our lives - Our Heavenly Father and our earthly father.  We are shaped through our entire lives by these relationships.  Our earthly fathers take us through the follies of our youth as they provide for us in our formative years.  

Our Heavenly Father provides our every need in preparing us for our eternal lives with Him.  He makes us aware of our sinful nature.  He calls us to repentance.  Through His mercy and His perfect love, He gives us His Son as our Redeemer.  To those of us that humble themselves before His Son, He sets aside a path of sanctification.  He guides us and provides for all our needs in accordance with His promises.  He gives us rest in our souls as He leads us to our journey's end.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we exalt Your name as the name that holds the highest place in our lives and we exalt the name of Your Son, Jesus, who shed His blood for our sins.  We thank You that we can live in the shadow of His love, His protection and His provision.  We seek to deepen our relationship with Your Son.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand who He is so that we may live our lives in reverent awe of Him. We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Purifier, Jesus Christ.