Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your
truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
This year, God has been giving me guidance on the
scripture that says a house divided against itself cannot stand. He has shown me powerfully how I was a house
divided against myself. You know, it
affects our ability to stand and walk...emotionally, spiritually, and maybe
even physically.
This scripture is asking that we be given an
undivided heart, that we may fear His name.
I am a rather curious person, and I know that "fear" as we
understand it today must not mean the same as the Bible means. I am sure that it can mean the same as we
define it today, but it seems that it must mean something more.
I looked up "fear God" to see what I
could find on the internet. What a great
study! I have been studying Revelation
for a long time. It seems the more I
study, the more questions I have. One of
my "fear" questions is from Revelation 14:6,7. The everlasting gospel is: "Fear God and
give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that
made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
Since I generally don't think of the gospel (good
news) in terms of fear, this intrigued me.
I would say that Psalms 86:11 has something special to say to us.
"...Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name." This is saying that divided hearts do not
fear Him. Wow! My new prayer will be for an undivided
heart.
Why would you fear someone you love...like
God? That is a good question, and, for
me, it just means I need to understand something more about how this is used in
the Bible. It is always best to let the
Bible define itself. Hence, I looked up
the words "fear God." Here is
the website: http://www.feargod.net/verses.php
One of the texts in the list is Deuteronomy
10:12-13 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
and to observe the Lord's commands
and decrees that I am giving you today for
your own good?
Fear God / for your own good
·
walk in
all His ways
·
love Him
·
serve the
Lord your God with all your heart and soul
·
observe commands
and decrees
You know that when we are bringing up children, we
given them rules that they do not understand.
As they mature, they get some understanding. At first, however, they have to obey without
understanding. I heard someone say one
time: You can obey your way to good feelings, but you never feel your way to
obedience. That's pretty good. Overton, my husband, and I were talking the
other day, and he reminded me of this C. S. Lewis quote: The road to the promised land leads through
Sinai.
So, from this, I can understand that "fearing
God" means something about my walk, my love, my service, and my
obedience. I have found that when God
gives lists, there is a hidden gem to be found.
In this case, my walk is the observable outward thing. My walk is not going the manifest fearing God
if I'm disobedient. Being obedient is a
first step which then creates service, love, and walking in the fear of
God.
Have you ever seen an obedient child have pleasure
in their obedience? It is a beautiful
thing, isn't it. Finding pleasure in
this, the child learns to enjoy serving.
Their self-love and love of others grows. Gradually, you have a child that is walking
in the fear of the Lord. What a
wonderful gift to God and to the child.
Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Sounds like Parenting 101!
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