Fear or Fear?

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

I recently had a conversation with my principal. We were discussing some of the difficulties of coaching sports in our current era. I made the statement that players need to fear their coaches. They should fear discipline. They should fear being cut. He added, "But a healthy fear". That sounds crazy in our modern way of thinking. We often believe that we should be able to live a life free of fear, but is that reasonable, or even true? As we will see in our passage today, we are to live in fear; but which definition of fear is up to us.

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Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

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As I said in the last devotion, the Hebrew word translated for fear in this verse can mean either terror or reverence. Solomon tells us that we are to "fear God". Should we be terrified of Him or should we reverence Him? The answer is kind of both.

When we reverence God, we recognize that He is the all-powerful, all-knowing Creator, and the judge of His creation. Consider what the Apostle Paul said about Jesus: "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom" (II Timothy 4:1 NKJV). Everyone fits into one of those two categories: living or dead. When we reverence Him, we are aware of who God is. We fear his chastisement (Hebrews 12:6), not his anger (Romans 8:1). Our reverence and our fear of consequences helps us to make the correct decisions when we are tempted to sin.

Those who do not reverence God should be terrified of Him. That is because their guilt has already been established before God (Romans 3;10; Isaiah 53:6). While Jesus offers a pardon for their sins, they reject that pardon because they reject Him. That means they will have to pay the price for their sins (Matthew 7:23). The Apostle John recorded what he saw when he had the Revelation of the end times. Here is how he describes that judgment:

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Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:11-15

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Those people should be terrified of what is to come!

Father, thank you that we do not have to be terrified of You! You are not a fickle God like we read about in mythology. You are loving and kind, but You are also righteous and good. You set Your standard for Your creation. but we have all missed the mark. Thank You for Your forgiveness and pardon for our sins. May we reverence You because of who You are.