A Healthy Fear of the Lord

Proverbs 9:10 (NIV®)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

I don’t know of anything in Scripture that has more promises attached to it than the fear of the Lord. Fearing the Lord is not cowering before Him in terror. It is not hiding and hoping He will not be able to find you. Fear of the Lord means being in awe of who He is and regarding Him with reverence and respect. The contemporary American Church struggles with this. We tend to think about God and talk about God like He’s one of us. We are interested in His opinion, but don’t see it as the only viewpoint that counts. We are pretty comfortable saying, “I know what the Bible says, but …” Many people are engaged in a desperate search for wisdom and understanding. They are looking for those things in the teachings of Buddha, Muhammed, Confucius, the musings of philosophers, or the opinions of social media influencers. But the Bible tells us wisdom begins with a healthy fear of the Lord, and that knowledge of Him is true understanding.

THINK ABOUT IT
Proverbs 2:5 reveals the clear pathway to understanding the fear of the Lord: treasure God’s commands, call out for insight, and cry aloud for understanding—all as if you are mining for precious silver. There is nothing casual about that.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, show me how to truly respect You and revere Your name—to treat You as a holy God. Forgive me for any casual attitude or complacency in me when I have responded to You. Bring an urgency in my heart to honor and worship You and give You glory. In Jesus' name, amen.