The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"A Proper Fear"
All born again believers often pray with no overwhelming emotion or sensibility of the enormity of relating to an infinite God who created and sustains all things, and whose vastness of being means that "even the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee!" (II Chronicles 6:18).
Sometimes, however, the thought occurs, the sense accompanies, and something beyond emotion arises within our hearts and minds. Some call it awe, reverence, or even a proper Biblically-prescribed fear whereby we rightly realize our finite being in the light of our Lord's infinity, eternity, and transcendence.
"Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him" (Psalm 33:8).
Because the Lord Jesus Christ has drawn us so near to God in relationship, standing, and being "accepted in the Beloved," fear may seem a response left behind when we received the grace of God in the Savior. The New Testament, however, often calls believers to "fear God" (Ephesians 1:6; I Peter 2:17). We fear the fact He is love and that He loves us, a response that may seem counterintuitive upon initial consideration.
Consider, however, that Scripturally-defined love clearly reveals the administration of that which is best for loved ones. This includes blessings of kindness and tender mercies beyond measure. Surely, this is the primary disposition of our Father's heart, as the Lord Jesus declared to His disciples, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). However, in our present existence, divine love must also apply "chastening and scourging" to every believer, without which no believer would "continue in the faith" (Hebrews 12:6; Colossians 1:23). Such discipline, no less the imparting of God's love to us than overt kindness, involves a thing to be feared, namely, we fear the love of God. We matter so much to Him that He will not fail to administer pain, hardship, and challenge when and as necessary. Anything less or else would be something God's character will not allow: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son" (Proverbs 13:24).
Believers can, should, and must bask in the light and warmth of the Father's favor, bestowed upon us by the suffering, forsakenness, and death of His beloved Son. We "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" in the wonder of such favor (I Peter 1:8). However, the "can, should, and must" also applies to properly fearing our Father and His devoted inclination to always do that which is best for us. Presently, this involves pain and difficulty because God does not hate us, but rather loves us in a dedication of affection that "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). Indeed, He loves us enough to hurt us when necessary, as any good father does.
"My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" (Hebrews 12:5-7).
The love of God is a marvel of kindly mercy, the glory of which we will never fully know. The love of God also involves a dedication to our well being and best interests, the glory of which necessarily challenges us in this present existence. If allowed to look back on this lifetime from our Heavenly vantage point, we will see that both tender mercies and the calling to "perfect holiness in the fear of God" no less revealed His loving devotion to us II Corinthians 7:1).
"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept Thy Word."
(Psalm 119:67)
Weekly Memory Verse
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
(Romans 8:2)
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