Day 9

Day 9 – August 16th, 2021 – Michael Lail

Proverbs 19:23
The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it, rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.

Fear!  In today’s world, every one of us will experience fear at some point.  Fear of rejection, failure, uncertainty, loneliness, change, loss of freedom, being judged, something bad happening, getting hurt or even inadequacy.  We are not immune to it.  It is a natural emotion and a survival mechanism.

Fear the Lord and you will not be visited by evil.  The “fear” in Proverbs is not being scared of the Lord.  We need to start by understanding some key words in Hebrew.

“Fear” means reverence.  Reverence means: with deep respect for someone or something.  Think of it as admiration or an overwhelming sense of God’s worth and glory.  To have reverence for someone is to know them.“Life” means “to live, have life, remain alive, live forever.”“Satisfied” means “to be fulfilled”.

Using these understandings, we can derive: “To have reverence for the Lord brings us alive, living forever, and we can rest in excess and abundance of Jesus Christ; and when bad things do happen, we know all things work together for good for those who love God.”

When we give reverence to our Lord, we are acknowledging God is our Savior and Jesus has washed away our sin.  He has taken the harm from you and wipes the slate clean by your faith in Him.  In return, He clears our mind and conscience and brings us contentment.  We can start our reverence by accepting the words of Jesus that He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6)

How can you practice reverence daily?
1. Treasure His name. Use His name only to praise Him, proclaim Him as the Savior, and pray to Him.

2. Treat yourself and others respectfully. Treating others as well as we treat ourselves (maybe better).

3. Live holy and blameless lives.  Be the light and set apart, through His Word, against a world that doesn’t live in a Christ-like fashion.

A prayer showing reverence for God:

Lord God, Thank You that You are a Holy God who still makes yourself approachable to those who come to You in the name of Your Son, Jesus.  Remind me daily that You are worthy of all my praise, You are the One whose life I need to imitate, and You are the One who deserves my love, allegiance, and worship. Create in me a heart that reveres You above all so others may see You high and lifted up. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.