Life’s Instructions– The fear of the Lord
“Is-is he a man?” asked Lucy.“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of the Beasts? Aslan is a lion-the Lion, the great Lion”
“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he- quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
~C.S. Lewis, in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
God is not a human, and if our relationship with Him is to be right, then we should bear this in mind!! God is the all powerful, omnipresent, omniscient, King of Kings! He is God. As Mr. Beaver says, Aslan (who represents God) is not at all ‘safe.’ If you choose to seek Him, come close to Him, and surrender your all to Him, be prepared for the most wonderful adventure. But not at all a safe one curled up in your comfort zone safe from embarrassment and learning. And yet again, as Mr. Beaver says, ‘He is good, and He is King’. And we should fear Him. He is a jealous God. A just God. The Bible tells us of all His marvelous deeds. Both those of His healing deeds and undeserved mercy– and those of His just and unquenchable anger. He is the great I AM. He is the one who killed all the firstborn in Egypt. Who called the FURIOUS storm. Who created the universe. Who crumbled the walls of Jericho. Who killed a man in punishment for wrongly touching His holy ark. And SO MUCH MORE! Our God is an awe-some God! HE IS ONE TO FEAR. And yet, it is a wonderful fear. It isn’t the dread, because He is a good King. One who, even in all His glory, loves us. I am having trouble finding the words to say all that I want to say. Our God is worthy of praise. Of awe. Of adoration. Of our whole-hearted obedience. Psalm 34:9 (NIV) says, ‘Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.’. Picture a scale. One one side put all the things you are afraid of: spiders, new things, heights, learning to drive, large dogs, …fill in the rest. Now, on the other side, put just this one thing: fear of God. Awe. Respect. Understanding of His power and justice. …And then watch the scale hit the table on that side with a resounding bang. When you fear God you fear nothing else, because you trust in His power. When you don’t fear God, you fear everything else, because deep down you know you sure can’t handle anything! You may think you can, but the truth remains. As Psalms says, we are but a breath. And God is beyond our comprehension! Rahab understood that the God of Israel is One to fear, and God made it so that she did not lack anything. I cannot fit all that I want in this one article, and even if I had a hundred I could not describe what it means to fear God… mainly because I cannot comprehend it myself. But I challenge you to seek this yourself. Before the day is up start your quest by reading Isaiah 42. |
Th!nk Magazine 