Fear for the New Year
Happy New Year!
So what are your plans for the coming year? Anything big and special? For me I plan to live my life with more fear than ever before!
No that was not a typo. I really do want to live with more fear than in years past. I know I do not fear God enough. Many people today think that when the Bible says to fear God it simply means to have an awe or reverence for God. This is true but it is not the complete picture of what it means to have a healthy fear of God. To get a better understanding of this concept we must take a look at the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 5.
In this story we can happen when you do not follow the will of God. Simply put Ananias and Sapphira were killed because they lied to God and tried to deceive both God and man. Now this does not mean that every time we lie or cheat God will kill us. I think though the response of the people gives us an indication of how we should fear God. The Greek word used in verse 11 actaully means that which strikes terror . The people who heard these stories did not simply have this feeling of awe or reverence for God, they were struck with fear and trembling. Paul speaks to Timothy on this same topic in I Timothy 5:20 where we are called to be fearful of sinning.
So how does one balance this call to fear with the concept of grace. I am not sure I have an answer for this other than to say that the two go hand in hand for the Christian. Grace allows us to not only avoid the pain and suffering of Hell but it also allows to sometimes avoid the pain and suffering of sin in this world. Each person must find out how God desires them to live in this balance of fear and grace. For me that means learning more and more this year about fear.
So what are your plans for the coming year? Anything big and special? For me I plan to live my life with more fear than ever before!
No that was not a typo. I really do want to live with more fear than in years past. I know I do not fear God enough. Many people today think that when the Bible says to fear God it simply means to have an awe or reverence for God. This is true but it is not the complete picture of what it means to have a healthy fear of God. To get a better understanding of this concept we must take a look at the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 5.
In this story we can happen when you do not follow the will of God. Simply put Ananias and Sapphira were killed because they lied to God and tried to deceive both God and man. Now this does not mean that every time we lie or cheat God will kill us. I think though the response of the people gives us an indication of how we should fear God. The Greek word used in verse 11 actaully means that which strikes terror . The people who heard these stories did not simply have this feeling of awe or reverence for God, they were struck with fear and trembling. Paul speaks to Timothy on this same topic in I Timothy 5:20 where we are called to be fearful of sinning.
So how does one balance this call to fear with the concept of grace. I am not sure I have an answer for this other than to say that the two go hand in hand for the Christian. Grace allows us to not only avoid the pain and suffering of Hell but it also allows to sometimes avoid the pain and suffering of sin in this world. Each person must find out how God desires them to live in this balance of fear and grace. For me that means learning more and more this year about fear.
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