Kingdom Comeنموونە

PRAYER:

God, I want to see you today as you really are. Help me to have a correct view of who you are.

READING:

Wait! I know what you’re thinking—Didn’t I read this yesterday? But there are two really big ideas in these verses, so they’ve been divided between two days. Yesterday was about working out what God has worked in. Today is about the role of fear in our spiritual growth.

As uncomfortable as we may be with that idea, Paul tells us we are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” We tend to write off that kind of thing in our culture, thinking it’s old-school religion. We don’t want to think of God as someone we should fear, right? How could that be helpful?

Well, imagine you’re at the beach with a young child. Would it be a good idea to just point to the ocean and say, “Go have fun, I’m going to lie here and take a nap?” Of course not! That would be extremely irresponsible, right? You would walk the child by the hand all the way up to where the waves are crashing against the shore. You’d show them how powerful the waves are and tell them about the pull of the currents. You’d want them to have a healthy level of respect for the ocean because it’s much bigger and far more powerful than they are. You would never want them running in without any idea of what they’re actually dealing with, right? On the other hand, you wouldn’t want them hugging the boardwalk in sheer terror of the ocean. You’d show them how to play, splash, and have fun in the waves because that’s the whole point of going to the beach. When it comes to something as powerful as the ocean, there’s an appropriate balance between love and respect.

In the same way, when the Bible talks about the fear of God, the point is not that we should be terrified of God. It’s about having a healthy respect for the fact that God is much bigger and more powerful than we can comprehend. It’s about acknowledging that when we come to God, we don’t call the shots. He is beyond our control or manipulation—he is the almighty Creator of the universe! We can’t fit him in our pocket and carry him around as a good luck charm. 

But knowing this should not pull us away from God. In fact, the opposite is true. When we discover a healthy “fear” of God, we are far less likely to take his love for granted. It fuels our wonder and draws us closer to him.

REFLECTION:

An essential part of connection with God is having a correct view of who he is. It's easy for us to become so familiar with God as a close friend that we forget how big he is. 

Here are a few questions for reflection…

Has your view of God been too small? What has been the consequence of that limited view? In what areas do you feel you may have taken God’s love for granted? 

Ask God to give you a healthy and helpful “fear” of him and to see him as the immense and powerful God he is. Then thank him for the tremendous love that led him to lay aside all that power and suffer death on the cross so he could welcome you into a relationship with him.