PRAY OVER THIS
“Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:14-15
PONDER THIS
We need to fear the Lord. Now, I’m not talking about a negative fear. Do you know the difference between a slave and a son? A slave fears his master’s lash, but a son fears his father’s displeasure. I don’t want to break God's heart. The best illustration I can give you of the kind of fear I’m talking about comes from Mark 4:35-41, when Jesus stilled the waves. The disciples came to Him distressed saying, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (v. 38). “But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?’” (v. 40). And Jesus rebuked that kind of fear. But listen to the very next verse: “And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!’” (v. 41). He rebuked them for fearing wrongly and in the very next verse they feared Him in a wonderful way. One kind of fear was condemned because it was faithless. The other was exonerated and commended because it was reverential awe. Never get careless about your Christian life. Never lose the reverence. Have a careful reverence for God.
What does it mean to fear the Lord in reverence?
How does fearing the Lord change your faith? How does not fearing the Lord inhibit your faith?
PRACTICE THIS
Resolve to pursue proper fear of the Lord in the year to come. Consider how that may change different aspects of your life.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers
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