Hello there. How are you holding up? The first half of 2020 has been trying hasn’t it? But then, guess what? You are alive. Praise God. God has been good. He’s preserved you during these many months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Welcome to the Month of July. This month has been the dubbed the Month of THE FEAR OF THE LORD. We will delve into different aspects of it and especially practicalize it so that we can easily be doers of the word. I’m excited about this. Hope you are as well. Let’s get right to it.

The fear of the Lord is a strong theme in the Old Testament but  not so strong in the New Testament. Actually, you only find the term “THE FEAR OF THE LORD” once in the New Testament but its undertones in the New Testament is not lost. The modern day church is quite foreign to the idea and this message is no longer often heard in Christian circles. The preacher who preaches it is deemed archaic and has little popularity amongst his congregation. The preaching of its message can be hard to hear but must be heard nonetheless.

In the era of Kingdoms, the Kings were supreme reagents to whom all paid homage. All power belonged to them and any challenge to it was high treason tantamount to death. The hierarchy was clearly in place. In those days, depending on the culture of the people, homage was paid in different ways. In some cultures, the people kneel before the King in adoration. Some others bow before him. Other cultures even lie flat on their faces at the feet of the King to show obeisance. Why? This is because He is the King. The full impact may be lost to us due to our democratic ways. You would probably not kneel before your president. You are patiently waiting to kick him out of the seat with a vote. You wouldn’t pay homage to your president because he was put in power by you and you can replace him. Therefore, your opinion matters to him. If that happens, his actions can be controlled to an extent. He is not sovereign.

On the contrary, the King cannot be replaced. He is only replaced upon his death. The King reigns supreme over his territory. He owns the land and he owns the people. Yes, he owns the people. He could care less of your opinion and if questioned on his decisions, he can easily dispose of that threat. When a King decides to take a piece of land as his personal property, he cannot be questioned because the land belongs to him. This is why Jezebel was exasperated with Ahab when he came home pouting about a land he wanted but couldn’t get. Jezebel was like, “For goodness sake, you are the king!” She then went ahead to dispose off the owner of the land and take it.

A king commanded fear over his people. He is reverenced by all.

The Lord Jesus came to introduce the Father dimension of God to us but it must be never forgotten that the Lord is also a King – our King. The Kingdom and all that is within it – including us – belong to him. He remains King forever on his everlasting throne. The Kingdom moves to the sound of His words and His word is law. As King, his obeisance is daily due Him. It is not an option. It is not a matter of opinion, it is a Kingdom rule. When we gain this perspective of seeing the Lord, fearing Him becomes a natural thing flowing from the heart.

To fear God, to put it simply, is to have reverence, respect, honour and awe for God. Fear is mostly used in the negative sense being an awareness of danger or due to a concern. But this is not what the Bible is referring to when it says to fear God. Sometimes, it can be akin to that kind of fear but it is different because of the reason and who it is directed to.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.”

In Isaiah’s vision, he saw the Lord on a throne. He saw the Lord as King in His full glory and majesty and Isaiah began to cry out.

So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.””

Isaiah 6:1-2,5 NKJV

Isaiah’s reaction can easily be inferred as terror or dread as he saw the King but you can recognize that Isaiah’s reaction stemmed out of awe. He was filled with wonder at the glory and holiness he was beholding as compared to his meagre self. It seemed to him that he was nothing and his people were nothing before the great King of the Universe. The same reaction was seen in John the Revelator who fell instantly as dead before the resurrected Christ.

When you begin to see the Lord as the King in His glory and majesty, His awesome work in all the earth, the fear of Him will begin to grow in your heart.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Catch up more materials from us by following us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. You can also join our new Telegram Channel or Whatsapp Page.

Like, comment and do share this post. Stay blessed.