What Does It Mean to Fear God?

(Whoa!! This one’s a biggen!! I dug into my archives and found this entry that I made back in June07. I find it good to that, because it is so easy to forget the lessons I learned, and end up asking the same questions again. So here it is, as I see it:)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7, ESV)
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." (Proverbs 9:10, ESV)

We might not like that term. It can tend to make us uneasy. Besides, we are told so many times in the Bible not to be afraid. So what does this "fearing God" bit really mean?

As I see it, part of fearing and reverencing God is knowing and acknowledging that God, as our Creator, knows it all, and that our puny thinking and understanding is very limited.

~~ He is knowing…. He knows and we don’t have to tell Him. And He knows everything about us. Nothing is hidden from Him. So we can’t hide. He knows the intentions of our heart, which can be comforting or scary, depending on where we stand.

~~ He is all-knowing….He knows the BIG picture, plus the minutest detail.

~~ He is foreknowing…. He knows the beginning from the end, and He knew us before the creation of the world, and He knows our future, which some are so often itching to know. Just as well we don’t!

So, if this mighty God knows it all, yet still is interested in us, and even wants to fellowship (hang out) with us, it only stands to reason that we should surrender to His mercy. To me, that is part of what fearing God is about.

On the other hand, if we choose to do it our own way, we have all the reason to be afraid of Him. If we don’t have his mercy, we have His wrath. And His wrath is awesome!

But, this is ONLY the BEGINNING!!! The beginning of knowledge and the beginning of wisdom. So let's get it right from the start, and put the all-knowing and all-wise God first in our lives.

Then the MEEKNESS of WISDOM can begin to grow in our lives.