Psalm 111:10

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”

There are moments in our life that we can never prepare for. Many of these situations are ultimately embarrassing. An example of this occurred when our new pastor was introducing his family to the congregation.

He named his wife and then each of his sons, ending with the youngest son who was standing next to him. As he mentioned the boy’s name, he reached out to place his hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy threw up his arm as if defending himself from a blow. The place erupted with laughter! It was later learned that this kid was a prankster and thought it would be funny to embarrass his pastor father.

Unfortunately many Christians interpret the fear of the Lord with much the same response as this young son, but to us it is serious. We seem to have a picture of God looking over the parapets of heaven, just waiting to strike us with lightening.

So what exactly is “godly fear?” The Hebrew word for fear is the word, “yi’rah.” As it applies to our relation to God and it means; respect, reverence or piety. Wow! That is a lot different than cowering in terror before the God who loves us so much He sent His only Son, Jesus to die in our place that we might have eternal life. Yes, it is an awesome thing to enter the presence of the Lord, but it a blessed privilege!

Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!

 - – - Pastor Cecil