Fear and Slavery

These two topics have been mulling around in my mind since last evening, and I'm convinced they go hand in hand.

Last night as I was driving to my Tuesday night group I began to think about slavery (I hope to share more on this at some point in the future, but I'll just focus on one point for the purpose of this post). Then at our group we discussed the *Fear of God*. A lot of us don't understand what the "fear of God" is, but many of us CAN relate to the "fear of man", which can come in many forms such as people pleasing, conforming to cultural norms and just being afraid to be "different"....

Scripture tells us that the "Fear of God" is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7), whereas the "fear of man" is a snare (Prov29:25). We are told in scripture not to fear those who can only kill the body, but instead to fear HIM who can destroy both our body and soul in hell (Mt.10:28). It also teaches us that HOLINESS is brought to completion in the fear of God (1Cor7:1). Paul even says in Gal.1:10, "if we are still trying to please man then we are not servants of Christ". OUCH.

Often we get caught up on the "fear God" terminology that we miss the point. Last night, perhaps because slavery had already been on my mind, I was struck with this: If the fear of man is stronger in my life than the fear of God, then who TRULY is my master?

As I started writing about this, I found this article* that says it so wonderfully and goes right with what was in my heart. What I love about this article is that he makes the point that who we "fear" reveals who we LOVE. THAT is a powerful statement.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a slave of the fear of man. My time on earth will come and go, but in eternity I want to stand before God and be able to say I truly made HIM Lord of my life. It was his opinion that I cared the most about. It was his ways and HIS voice that guided my life. It was HIS LOVE that I sought after, and it was HIM that I LOVED the most...Perhaps that is only skimming the top of it, but I believe THAT is fear of God.

*Check the above referenced article out here: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/lay-aside-the-fear-of-man