The Fear of the Lord

Verse of the Day: "The fear of The Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding" - (Job 28:28). 


"You learn something new every day, you know that?" Brad slapped his friend, Andrew, on the back as he sat beside him in the youth group room at their church.


Andrew tossed his head to brush his hair out of his eyes and look at his friend. "You sound like my dad."


"Have you ever heard adults talk about 'the fear of God'?"


"Yeah," Andrew answered. "So?"


"Well, for the first time in my life, I think I understand what they're talking about. . . . You remember how Mr. Phillips started our first driver's ed. class last Tuesday?"


"Yeah," Andrew said with a shrug. "He gave us some speech about how we should 'be afraid, be very afraid' when we get behind the wheel of a car."


"Right! He said we should respect driving, because, while driving a car could be really good for us-getting us to school, taking us to the amusement park, stuff like that—it could also take our life or our passengers' lives away like that—" he snapped his fingers—"if we're not responsible drivers."


"Yeah," Andrew said, as if waiting for the punch line of a joke. "He said we're not ready to drive a car until we're 'afraid, very afraid.' So?"


"Well, I was reading my Bible this morning, and I came across the verse that says, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' And for the first time, I understood what the fear of God is all about. It's not being scared of him, but it's realizing that he's God, he has the power of life and death, and he's the judge of good and evil."


Andrew smiled and nodded with understanding.


"So," Brad finished, "just like we're not ready to drive a car until we 'fear' it, we're not ready to know and serve God until we understand how awesome and powerful he is."


"And how happy we should be that he loves us," Andrew said.


TO DO: As a family, come up with your own definition of what it means to "fear the Lord." Then hang your definition in a place where everyone will be sure to see it.