Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The idea of “fearing God” seems not only unpalatable to us as modern people, but also wrong. We object: “We shouldn’t fear anyone! We should be motivated by love, not fear, especially when it comes to God!”

Well, this may sound pious and nice, but it is very shallow and misguided.

There is no love without fear. Fear and love are closely linked. When the Bible speaks of fearing God, it is calling us to treasure Him above all else. There is no love without treasuring, and there is no treasuring without fear. That’s why those with the greatest earthly treasures expend so much money and effort to protect those treasures. They lock them away in vaults and guard them with expensive security systems. They are fearful of anything harming or threatening that which they so treasure and love.

The same is true in relationships.

You could say that I “fear” for my wife, more than any other human being, precisely because I so love and treasure her. What she thinks and how she feels matters to me. I fear losing relationship with her; I fear harm coming to her. Because I love and treasure her so much, I fear not pleasing her, not honoring her, not caring for her, more than I do anyone.

In a similar but infinitely greater way, the Bible calls us to fear God above all else. Listen to Deuteronomy: “You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him…. He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise.” (Deuteronomy 10:20 NLT). To love God is to fear Him—to treasure Him above all else.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.”

~ Deuteronomy 10:17-21 (ESV)