I'm reading through Matthew, the Psalms, Acts and Genesis at the same time with my yearly walk through the Bible plan, and each of these scriptures has been ripe with examples of those who have walked fearing the Lord, and those who have walked fearing man. It's a humorous contrast to read actually, and clearly shows which way of life is fruitful in Christ, and which way creates a mess. Let's take the beginning of Matthew, for example. Joseph chooses to believe and revere the revelation God brings him about Mary's pregnancy. I'm sure he had peers who snickered and mocked at his decision to go ahead and marry a girl that was "defiled," and who knows how many comments he heard over the years about the "bastard" child. People doubted the virgin birth of Jesus then, just like many question it now. But Joseph chose to believe the message from the angel he received, and obey the Lord's command. God's opinion mattered, not man's. He might have looked like a fool to the world, but he chose to value God's calling on his life, to marry Mary and... be the father of the savior of the world?! Whoa, that would be an intimidating task if any, father the one who will save his people from there sins? What would that look like? But Joseph walks in faith.
Then you have the wise men. They truly were wise, they were the only ones who recognized that the King of the Jews had been born, and traveled across continents to worship at His feet. (Besides some random shepherds that the angels proclaimed to...) But seriously, that star was out for all to see, and they were the only ones that recognized a divine sign. Why did everyone else miss it? What if they saw it, and then brushed off their sight as coincidence, because they feared friends would think it a little strange to wonder about a bright star. Big deal, it's a brighter, bigger star than normal... and it really was. I just wonder how many times God is trying to declare His beauty and Glory through signs all around us, and how often most of us miss it. And do we miss it, because we think others will think we are crazy to look for God, to expect God to speak to us through His Word and life around us? Because we fear what man thinks, not God? What a tragedy.
The wise men were also discerning, and knew God's voice in their dream, and obeyed God's command to not return to Herod with any information about Jesus but returned home another way entirely. In their initial encounter with Herod, we know he put on a good show, "Tell me where the king of the Jews is so I also can go worship." He was a good actor. And Herod was the king, you know, not returning to him, the wise men could have gotten into some trouble, I mean, we see the power he had to just give a command and have all the babies in Bethlehem killed. He was ruthless, and paranoid, and out for his own glory, not God's. The wise men feared the word of the Lord, and not the power of a man, even a powerful man, even a king.
Then I read through in Genesis about Noah. A righteous man, who also fears the Lord and lives in faith and obedience to His Word. God tells Noah to build a HUGE ark, that takes him and his sons years to work on, and you know that all the people around them thought that they were crazy. "That fool Noah, he's building that big wooden thing he's calling an ark, and talking something crazy about a flood destroying the earth. What a loon!" Now, Noah chose to ignore whatever mocking, teasing, and insulting he received over his building project. He didn't let men's opinions sway him in the least! And look who ends up being the fools - all those left on the flooding earth that drown in God's judgement. Thankfully, Noah chose to fear God, and live in obedience to Him, regardless of the crowd. And, he builds that same fear of God into his sons who help him build the ark.
Alright, there's a lot more to come, so stay tuned for part 2, we've got some exciting lessons to learn! (God repeats things in His Word a lot that He really wants us to get down, and these themes are rampant, so I'm going to dwell on them and let the lessons simmer in my soul a bit more...)
Then you have the wise men. They truly were wise, they were the only ones who recognized that the King of the Jews had been born, and traveled across continents to worship at His feet. (Besides some random shepherds that the angels proclaimed to...) But seriously, that star was out for all to see, and they were the only ones that recognized a divine sign. Why did everyone else miss it? What if they saw it, and then brushed off their sight as coincidence, because they feared friends would think it a little strange to wonder about a bright star. Big deal, it's a brighter, bigger star than normal... and it really was. I just wonder how many times God is trying to declare His beauty and Glory through signs all around us, and how often most of us miss it. And do we miss it, because we think others will think we are crazy to look for God, to expect God to speak to us through His Word and life around us? Because we fear what man thinks, not God? What a tragedy.
The wise men were also discerning, and knew God's voice in their dream, and obeyed God's command to not return to Herod with any information about Jesus but returned home another way entirely. In their initial encounter with Herod, we know he put on a good show, "Tell me where the king of the Jews is so I also can go worship." He was a good actor. And Herod was the king, you know, not returning to him, the wise men could have gotten into some trouble, I mean, we see the power he had to just give a command and have all the babies in Bethlehem killed. He was ruthless, and paranoid, and out for his own glory, not God's. The wise men feared the word of the Lord, and not the power of a man, even a powerful man, even a king.
Then I read through in Genesis about Noah. A righteous man, who also fears the Lord and lives in faith and obedience to His Word. God tells Noah to build a HUGE ark, that takes him and his sons years to work on, and you know that all the people around them thought that they were crazy. "That fool Noah, he's building that big wooden thing he's calling an ark, and talking something crazy about a flood destroying the earth. What a loon!" Now, Noah chose to ignore whatever mocking, teasing, and insulting he received over his building project. He didn't let men's opinions sway him in the least! And look who ends up being the fools - all those left on the flooding earth that drown in God's judgement. Thankfully, Noah chose to fear God, and live in obedience to Him, regardless of the crowd. And, he builds that same fear of God into his sons who help him build the ark.
Alright, there's a lot more to come, so stay tuned for part 2, we've got some exciting lessons to learn! (God repeats things in His Word a lot that He really wants us to get down, and these themes are rampant, so I'm going to dwell on them and let the lessons simmer in my soul a bit more...)
Wow. This is really insightful. When man is what you see with your eyes, and God is the One that you cannot visibly see, it is so easy to get caught up in the fear of man. But truly fear of God is vital. I heard that to fear God mean to love the things He loves and hate the things He hates. To love righteousness and justice and hate sin. Do I adopt the passions of the world, or do I adopt the values of God? This in the indication of who I actually fear.
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