The Fear of the Lord: Going God's Way

By Dr. Rob Reimer
Pastor/Founder of Renewal International

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7).

The fear of the Lord isn’t the fear of a drunken, angry father who is capricious and unpredictable.

The fear of the Lord is the humble realization that there are all sorts of things in life that we do not understand. We must ask God for wisdom and help.

The fear of the Lord is the deep knowing that we live a short, fragile life and then we give an account to the Creator for our choices in life, which leads us to align ourselves with God’s ways and doings.

The fear of the Lord is a holy reverence for the God who made us, the God who loves us, the God who longs for our best, the God who redeemed us by his blood and who will one day speak the final word over our lives.

The fear of the Lord leads to authentic humility and true wisdom. When we lack the fear of the Lord that produces teachability, we go our own way and we pay our own fare. “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord... Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way” (Proverbs 1:29,31).

God never creates arbitrary paths to keep us guessing, to trip us up or to cause us heartache... His paths are for our best even though there are times we cannot understand his ways, and we must humble ourselves to trust Him and choose his path. The more we humble ourselves and choose God’s ways, the more we develop wisdom about the way life works best.

This article originally appeared in another publication.