WordTalk Ministries

by Yuri Solomon  
10/13/2013 / Devotionals

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverb 1:7)

I find it interesting how some Christian teachers attempt to dumb down the word fear as it relates to God. Often we are told this use of the word fear does not mean to terrify or scare; rather, it means to reverence or respect, as if any of these words are antonyms; they are actually synonyms. The closest ideal to God in this life is our dad. This is one reason God is called The Father. A child, rightly so, does respect his or her dad; however, the fact is when a father is doing a good job, there are some things his children will not do because they are afraid of incurring dads chastening. Sometimes taking the right course is fostered by avoiding the painful strap of correction. Ironically the book of Proverbs is written by a father to his son, laying out the principles of nature and their behavioral causes and consequential effects. The effects of unrighteous behavior are meant to be a terror to us. If we would be honest with ourselves, at some point in life each of us did right, not because it was right, but we were just downright scared to do wrong. That fear preserved us until we came to understand why right is right and wrong is wrong.

Yuri Solomon holds degrees from Gospel Ministry Outreach Theological Institute and the College of Biblical Studies. He is author of the book Biblical Masculinity. More info @ www.wordtalkonline.org