The Fear of the Lord

The Fear of the Lord

My Mother knew the power of the right kind of fear.

She knew fear’s ability to teach and instruct.

My Mother taught me the Fear of the Lord!

When I was a young boy,

my mother told me a story of a young man

 who played the trumpet in church.

He was very talented and when he played

the people in the church felt the presence of God.

This trumpet player had some friends

that did not go to church

and asked him to play with their band.

The young man agreed

and soon found himself playing

in the night clubs and bars.

It came to a place where he no longer used

his abilities to play the trumpet for the Lord.

In fact, his life didn’t seem to have

any connection to God anymore.

One day he was with some friends

and he was involved in a bad accident.

The trumpet player died.

My mother told me that if a person got to

a place where God could not use us

any more, God would take their life.

I never forgot that story.

I remember a time when I

wasn’t in a place with God

like I should have been.

I was doing my paper route and riding

my bike down Reynolds Road

on a cold winter night.

I was thinking about the trumpet player

and fear was growing in my heart.

I thought for sure God was going to take me and

as a car coming down the road came too close to me,

I jumped off my bike into the icy snow

that had been plowed to the side of the road. 

My nose and face got scratched up

and I prayed,

God, please don’t kill me,

but help me!

I do not know that this was the best way to understand

the fear of the Lord,

but it sure had an effect on me.

The fear of the Lord is a good thing;

it’s the caution light

to warn us of danger.

The fear of the Lord has the ability

to teach us wisdom and

the knowledge of the Lord.

Is your caution light working?

Do you have a healthy reverence

and fear of the Lord?

Scripture Reading

Psalms 34:11-16 NIV

11 Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD .

12 Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

13 keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking lies.

14 Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their cry;

16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Psalms 111:10 NIV

10 The fear of the LORD  is the beginning of wisdom;

all who follow his precepts have good understanding.

To him belongs eternal praise.

Proverbs 1:7 NIV

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 10:27 NIV

27 The fear of the LORD adds length to life,

but the years of the wicked are cut short.

Proverbs 14:27 NIV

27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,

turning a man from the snares of death.

Proverbs 15:16 NIV

16 Better a little with the fear of the LORD

than great wealth with turmoil.