The Fear That Keeps Rein Over Us

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 in some regards to our relationship with our earthly fathers.  While we may have feared punishment from our earthly fathers, it was the fear of offending the one we loved so dearly that held such power over us.  The fear of disappointing the one that we wanted to please the most provided enormous influence over us.  The fear of not living up to the expectations of the one that we held in the highest place in our lives impacted our lives.  The fear of losing closeness with the one we desired to be closest to kept a rein on our lives.  It was this fear that held us in line when the world was trying to pull us out of line.

As disciples of Jesus Christ and as good sons and daughters, we benefitted greatly from living in awe of the highest authority figures in our lives - Our Heavenly Father and our earthly father.  We were shaped and continue to be shaped throughout our entire lives by these relationships.  

Our earthly fathers took us through the follies of our youth as they provided for us in our formative years and prepared us for life in this world.  Our Heavenly Father has provided for our every need in preparing us for our eternal lives with Him.  He made us aware of our sinful nature.  He called us to repentance.  Through His mercy and His perfect love, He gave us His Son as our Redeemer.  To those of us that humbled ourselves before His Son, He set aside a path of sanctification.  He guided us and provided for all our needs in accordance with His promises.  To this day, He continues to give us rest in our souls as He leads us to our journey's end in His eternal kingdom.

Let us submit in reverent fear to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Let us seek to live every day in awe of who He is.  Let us seek His Holy Spirit in directing every moment in our lives.

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.