Fear God?

I don't blog a lot. I could come up with 100 reasons why but none of them would matter. The reality is that it's just not something that I typically think of doing. But today is different.

This morning I was sitting on my back porch spending time with God. I have been going through the book of Deuteronomy. Today I read Deuteronomy 9 & 10, and while I was reading I was struck with something that shook me pretty hard. I'd like to share that with you.

One of the somewhat unique things about the Old Testament is the idea of "fearing God." Not only is this somewhat unique to the O.T. but as far as I can tell, it is a fairly foreign concept to most Christians as well, myself included. We may have read about it in the bible, heard about it a time or two in church, but as far as I can tell most of us have no real idea what it means or what we should do with it.

In Deuteronomy 9 & 10  Israel is about to claim the land that God promised their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What God is about to do through them should not be understated. Frankly, there is no way on earth that Israel should be able to conquer the nations they are about to conquer. The reality is that these nations are quite formidable (Deut 9:1-3). But, God is going ahead of them and will hand these powerful nations over to them.

All things considered, Israel will certainly be tempted to become proud of what they will accomplish (Deut 8:17-18; 9:6). So what does Moses do to prepare them for that temptation? He recounts all of Israel's disobedience and sin (Deut 9:7-10:11)! He literally reminds them of all that they have done wrong!

This is what struck me so hard. Could you imagine having all of your sin and disobedience recorded and then read aloud for all to hear? The crazy thing is, this is not even the scary part! He then reminds them that God wanted to utterly destroy them and start over with a "better nation (Deut 9:13-14)." God wanted to destroy them because of their sin!

Suddenly, this question came to my mind. "I wonder what it would look like if all of my sins were written out for me to read?"

It was at that moment that I had a greater understanding of Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom..." because it was in that moment that I remembered that "fearing God" is the beginning of truly understanding Grace. Grace is "getting something that I don't deserve." I get Jesus, I get the promise of an eternity with Him, and I get the forgiveness of all my sin. But I deserve judgement. The judgement that I deserve is not unlike the judgement that God reigned down upon the sinful nations that Israel destroyed in Cannan (Deut 9:4).

I wonder if you would take a moment as well to think about what it would be like to have all of your sin written down and laid in front of you to read? How many pages would they fill? How long would it take for you to realize the judgement that you deserve? The feeling that creeps into your heart as you consider these things just might be "the fear of the lord." Take time to let this all sink in.

"And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require 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 keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?"

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

The "fear of the Lord" is a beautiful thing. We certainly do not deserve the grace we are given! Maybe we forget that truth sometimes? Maybe, like Israel, we are often tempted to think that we somehow deserve Gods goodness and grace. I am amazed as I consider these things, and I hope you are as well. What a wonderful, amazing, longsuffering, and gracious God we serve. 

May Gods grace fill your heart with joy, and may the awareness of your sin make you grateful to our good, good God!