FEB 9

Ecclesiastes 5:7
Memorise Proverbs 1:7
"But fear thou God…"

DO YOU FEAR GOD?

Solomon ends this section of his advice with an admonition to ‘fear thou God.’ This is an advice that had already mention once in Ecclesiastes 3:14, and will be mentioned two more times in Ecclesiastes 8:12 and 12:13. Indeed that is the attitude that we must have whenever we approach God, when we enter into his house for worship, and when we commune with him and vow vows. It is so important to have the right heart and mind-set when we come before the thrice Holy God. When we truly have the fear of God in our hearts, then we would naturally have the right reverential awe and respect in our worship of Him, and we would not make hasty or rash vows nor defer to keep them, for we know that we are standing before the Holy and Perfect God.

On the other hand, it is very dangerous to try to approach God with no fear or respect of Him. Some Christians think that they can approach God casually and flippantly, as if they were talking to their ‘pal’ on the street, or address God as ‘daddy’ or ‘pops’. This shows a lack of understanding and regard for who God really is. This is certainly not the way we see men of God in the Bible approaching God, for they would always go with fear and trembling, realizing that God in His perfect holiness could strike them down at any time. Our modern individualistic culture has lost the respect for authority. Children nowadays address their parents (and even grandparents) by their first name. For many youths, it is ‘cool’ to rebel against authority, and very uncool to conform to the norms. Because of that, youths today no longer know how to fear God, and respect Him.

For us, we know that the fear of God is certainly something very important, and something that we constantly need to be reminded of. The right understanding of the fear of God will help us to worship Him, not just every Sunday in church, but also every day of our lives.

Thought: What attributes of God should I meditate on to help me have a greater fear of God?
Prayer: Lord, help me to fear You always, that I might live a life that is pleasing and acceptable in Your sight.