Do You Fear God?

“Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin,'” Exodus 20:20 ESV

“………. By fearing the LORD, people avoid evil.” Proverbs 16:6 NLT

What does it mean to fear God? For those who do not know Him, it could be ‘the fear of the unknown.’ The same could be true of those who say they believe there is a God, but fear exists due to the uncertainty of who He is. For those of you who say you have a relationship with God, believing that He is, what does it mean for you to fear God?

When scripture speaks of the ‘fear’ of God it is referring to the ‘reference’ or ‘awe’ of God. God in all His splendor and glory is to be praised. The God of the universe who spoke it into existence out of nothing should fill us with awe. When we observe the creation of the earth and enjoy its beauty and magnificence, we stand in amazement of how great God is. The Bible tells us this great God thinks of us, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!” (Ps. 139:17-18nlt) God, as awesome as He is, thinks of us constantly. This should make us pause to thank the God of the universe for His precious thoughts towards us, but also to make us think of how we disappoint Him when we sin. It should cause to come to grips with the fact that a holy God, the creator of the universe, the creator of life, and all powerful has just seen us sin.

After Moses received the Ten Commandments from the Lord, the Israelites stood at the base of the mountain and were extremely frightened by the thunder, lightning, and smoke arising from the mountain. They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Ex. 20:19esv) Moses answered them by saying, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ (Ex. 20:20esv) The fear the Israelites felt from the presence of the awesome, powerful, holy God is the same fear (reference-awe) God wants us to have for Him that we may not sin. Do you fear God?

Read: Exodus 20:1-21 ESV – The Ten Commandments – And God spoke – Bible Gateway