Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25; Luke 7:11-35; Psalm 68:19-35; Proverbs 11:29-31
Do you fear God? Now, before you answer too quickly, I am referencing a respect, awe and reverence of God. You should never be afraid of God. But, is your respect and reverence for Him so great that you do not want to displease Him in any way? That is the Biblical sense of fearing God.
Moses recalled how the people were reluctant to go up to hear God’s voice so they told Moses you go up and come back and tell us what God says. God remarks that, “Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever.”
God’s desire for Israel was that they would maintain a fear (respect, awe, reverence) of Him and pass this on to their children and grandchildren because in so doing, they would establish an unbroken line of blessings!
Our disobedience to God actually shows a lack of respect for God! This is where we have to be careful as we live under grace. We can be lulled into thinking that we can blatantly continue to disobey God and it not carry any consequences. When we become comfortable disregarding God’s ways, Paul said that we are treating “the grace of God as meaningless.”
If God’s love, mercy and grace means anything to you, then you respect it by obeying God’s directions. Whatever God leads us to do is never to hurt us but to help us. And, it requires obedience because those things God tells us to do are things that we naturally would not desire to do. If you really fear God, obey Him today. You will establish a spiritual legacy of blessings!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20; Luke 7:36-8:3; Psalm 69:1-18; Proverbs 12:1