From Fear to Love

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom.

What is fear?
- Fear is the acknowledgement of the existence of something or someone who has greater power than you do, and can impact your life directly or indirectly.

But, what is fear of God?
- Fear of God, is not a negative emotion (like fear of future or fear of loss); It's rather a positive declaration of God's Sovereignty and power over everything.
- Fear can take the form of respect, given to the One in authority.
- Fear of God could also mean an unconditional submission to God's plans
- The fear of the Lord is the attitude that enables us to seek God's will

How do we know that the "fear of God" manifests in us?
- When there's an increasing tendency in us to move away from places or things or people or practices, that can negatively impact my relationship with God. (Proverbs 3:7 - Fear the Lord and depart from evil)
- When we lean on the Holy Spirit all the time, in order to please God through obedience to His Words, which are in accordance with His perfect will.
- When we fear the prospect of missing out on God's will (when I lean on my own understanding).
- When we value obedience to God; and do not compromise with the world.

- When we fear God, we fear nothing (and no-one) else.

Enter Love
Perfect love casts out fear (I John 4:18)
- Fear -> Wisdom -> Love: Fear is the beginning of Wisdom; And the Highest form of Wisdom is Love.
- Love is all-inclusive and overshadows everything else; For God Himself is LOVE.

- When you value God's will in every aspect of your life => You fear God
- When you seek God's will in every area of your life => You are wise
- When you're ready to pay any cost for following God's will => You love God

- When you know God's power => You fear Him
- When you know God's heart (His character) => You love Him

When we love God, do we stop fearing Him?
Psalm 2:11
Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
- Even though we love God, there are times we worship Him with absolute awe and adoration.

- It takes wisdom (given by the Holy Spirit), to know when to love God and when to fear Him.

Being a vigilant Christian

Hebrews 12:1

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

I came across this article a couple of days back,"When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi-focused and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time.
Roberto decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth.

He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Roberto said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something.

To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since."

Well, that was quite a strategy! 

But when I read this, I could sense that this principle of “gaining” market share applies to our spiritual lives as well. The enemy's goal is to increase his market share in our human "hearts". To this end, we see that every aspect of human life in this fallen world, is heavily influenced by the devil, which is a deliberate attempt to trap not (just) the unbelievers, but rather the elite warriors of God's kingdom. From sinful addictions, all the way to seemingly innocuous entertainment and luxury, we see the crafty setup that has the potential to pull us away from pursuing the things of eternal value.

Some might think that these worldly pursuits will not affect our spiritual walk, as long as we believe that the One who is in us, is greater than the one in the world. While I genuinely believe that there's no force that can defeat us because of the power we have through Christ Jesus, I also believe the reality and the craftiness of the enemy and that he will try his best to pull us into his territory through subtle means. As Peter says, we ought to “ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8)

Samson was a man of God, and he was a strong warrior, who single-handedly brought victory after victory for Israel. When the enemy camp (Philistines) knew they couldn't overpower him through direct attacks, they devised a scheme and used Delilah as a trap. The Philistines (who symbolically represent the devil and his army) said, "Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him;" (Judges 16:5)
Was Samson not a man of God? He certainly was! Did he not have God's power dwelling within? He certainly did! The devil was totally aware of the power given to him, but what he also knew was that he had to employ a different strategy to defeat Samson. If he can't come as an enemy assaulting us, (for He knows we'd use God's power to overthrow him), he'll come as an angel of light to deceive us! All he needs, is to turn our hearts away, little by little, not merely towards sin, but to ANYTHING (even the good things in life!) that can keep our focus off God. The enemy will try and do everything in his ability, to keep us from running the race. As the author of Hebrews says, we ought to lay down every weight (and not just turn away from sin) that can bog us down and interfere with our race.

How do we know what's keeping us from running the God-given race? "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things" (John 14:26). We ought to rely on the Holy Spirit, to know what is it that's keeping us from doing God’s perfect will. As He reveals and convicts our hearts of anything that's adding unnecessary weight and slowing us down, let His grace lead us into repentance and obedience to His Word that purifies and edifies us, as we live our lives in surrender to our Holy God. Let the Psalmist’s prayer be ours as well,

“Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.” (Psalms 119:37)

The MSG paraphrase puts Psalm 139:23 this way,

Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.