WE’RE NOT READY TO KNOW AND SERVE GOD UNTIL WE
UNDERSTAND HOW AWESOME AND POWERFUL HE IS.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Psalm 111.
Verse of the Day: “The fear of The Lord is true
wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding” (Job 28:28).
“You learn something new every day, you know that?”
Brad slapped his friend, Andrew, on the back as he sat beside him in the youth
group room at their church.
Andrew tossed his head to brush his hair out of his
eyes and look at his friend. “You sound like my dad.”
“Have you ever heard adults talk about ‘the fear of
God’?”
“Yeah,” Andrew answered. “So?”
“Well, for the first time in my life, I think I
understand what they’re talking about. . . . You remember how Mr. Phillips
started our first driver’s ed. class last Tuesday?”
“Yeah,” Andrew said with a shrug. “He gave us some
speech about how we should ‘be afraid, be very afraid’ when we get behind the
wheel of a car.”
“Right! He said we should respect driving, because,
while driving a car could be really good for us-getting us to school, taking us
to the amusement park, stuff like that—it could also take our life or our
passengers’ lives away like that—” he snapped his fingers—”if we’re not
responsible drivers.”
“Yeah,” Andrew said, as if waiting for the punch
line of a joke. “He said we’re not ready to drive a car until we’re ‘afraid,
very afraid.’ So?”
“Well, I was reading my Bible this morning, and I
came across the verse that says, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom.’ And for the first time, I understood what the fear of God is all
about. It’s not being scared of him, but it’s realizing that he’s God, he has
the power of life and death, and he’s the judge of good and evil.”
Andrew smiled and nodded with understanding.
“So,” Brad finished, “just like we’re not ready to
drive a car until we ‘fear’ it, we’re not ready to know and serve God until we
understand how awesome and powerful he is.”
“And how happy we should be that he loves us,”
Andrew said.
TO DO: As a family, come up with your own
definition of what it means to “fear the Lord.” Then hang your definition in a
place where everyone will be sure to see it.
TO PRAY: “God, we are happy that you love us. Thank
you for your love. Please teach us to respect your power and authority.”
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