PROVERBS 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
I think of having fear of God as a small child might have fear of a decent father: He won't hurt me, but He also won't let me get away with everything forever.
Because God has revealed His heart to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, we may be sure that we do not need to be scared of Him.
But since God is infinitely wise and powerful, we shouldn't imagine that we can disobey him and get away with it.
ISAIAH 8:13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
You will not succeed in being the first to outsmart God because He has never been mistaken.
God's way is ideal, so if we reject it and choose another path, we will undoubtedly fail. That should make us terrified!
The meaning can be understood if you consider fearing God to be the utmost respect for the Most Powerful Being.
God need not cause us fear since He will not cause us harm.
However, if we are smart, we will be afraid to stray from God's path since it will not be successful.
SAY THIS: To fear God is to truly respect Him, not to be concerned that He will hurt us.
