Thursday, August 13, 2009

Fear

What are you afraid of? I wonder if there is anyone who walks through life without some kind of fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of pain, fear of death, fear of loneliness, fear of crowds, fear of ... you name it. Whatever it is, it fits in the blank.

What does fear do to our relationship with God? I think it can set up roadblocks. It can stop us from taking steps of faith and following God's lead.

But then yesterday, I found this quote on Facebook (and as a lectionary reading for the week):
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom Psalm 111:10a
How can fear be the beginning of wisdom when it blocks our relationship to God.

I think "fear of the Lord" is a different thing -- a different meaning of the word. I read somewhere that fear of the Lord means "reverence." Reverence of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

OK. That I can believe.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous JtM said...

Fear
3 : profound reverence and awe especially toward God

10:31 PM  
Blogger bob said...

Word usage can truly effect a person's understanding of scripture. In Bible study every time we have a passage that speaks of fear of the Lord the one woman is troubled by this even though we explain fear as meaning awe or reverence.

Somtimes the ability to rephrase in a way that eases understanding is the best tool for teaching

6:35 AM  

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