Fear the Lord

Bible Reading: Psalm 96:4-9

Tenley looked up from reading her Bible on the front lawn. “Lincoln, are you afraid of God?” she asked her brother.

“No, I don’t think so,” replied Lincoln. “Why should I be afraid of Him?”

“This verse says, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,’” said Tenley. “What does that mean?”

Just then their neighbor James came along. “Hey, Lincoln,” he called, “get your bike and come with me. Ryder dared me to climb the fence around the power station’s transformer, so I’m gonna do it.”

Lincoln’s eyes widened. “You’d better not, James. My dad says it’s dangerous to go near that thing.”

“I’m not scared of anything,” James said. “You coming?”

Lincoln shook his head. “No. I don’t want to get zapped. Why do you think there’s a high fence around it with all those ‘No Trespassing’ signs?”

James laughed. “To keep out scaredy-cats like you!” He sped off on his bike.

Lincoln watched James leave, then jumped to his feet. “I’m gonna tell Mom.”

When Mom heard about James’ plan, she decided to call the police department. Soon they heard sirens heading toward the power station. “Maybe seeing the police will teach James to wise up,” said Tenley. “He said he wasn’t afraid of anything.”

“Well, there are some things he should be afraid of,” Mom replied.

“Mom, are we supposed to be afraid of God?” Tenley asked. “One of the verses in my Bible reading today talked about fearing Him.”

“We fear God in the sense that we respect, honor, and trust Him,” Mom explained. “We know He has power over everything and that, because He is good, He must punish sin. Fearing God leads us to see how serious our sin is and how much we need Jesus to save us from it.

“So fearing God is kind of like how I respect and obey you and Dad?” asked Lincoln. “I’m not scared of you, but I’m afraid to disobey you.”

Mom nodded. “Instead of thinking we can do whatever we want, we put our trust in Jesus and obey Him. Then we feel His peace in our lives, knowing He took the punishment for our sin.”

Tenley grinned. “So if we fear the Lord, we have no reason to be afraid!” – Barbara J. Westberg

How About You?

Are you afraid of God? If you’re a Christian, you have no reason to be afraid. When the Bible tells us to fear God, it means to respect His authority and the fact that He must punish sin. Even though you’ve sinned against God, Jesus took the punishment for your sin. Fear God by trusting and obeying Him. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)

Today’s Key Verse:
Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (KJV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Fear God