~
Obadiah Feared God ~
God
does not want His children living in fear.
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus
our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life
and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue”
(2 Peter 1:2-3). However,
God does want His children to have a proper respect and reverence for Him. We are told in many places in Scripture to “fear
God.”
This Week’s Passage ~ “So he [Obadiah] said, ‘How have I sinned, that
you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? As the Lord
your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent
someone to hunt for you; and when they said, “He is not here,” he took an oath
from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. And now you say, “Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah
is here’!” And it shall come to pass, as
soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go
and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I
your servant have feared the Lord
from my youth. Was it not reported
to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed
them with bread and water? And now you
say, “Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here’.”
He will kill me!’” (1 Kings 18:9-14).
Fearing God Results in Salvation
~ “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews
10:31). “A wise
person fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident”
(Proverbs 14:16).
This does not mean the Christian is to live a fearful life—but a life
which reverences God and seeks to do His will.
Fearing God Results in
Fearlessness ~ “The Lord
is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord
is the strength of my life; of whom shall
I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). The answer is: only God. With the gift of salvation comes
responsibility.
Fearing God Results in Witnessing ~ “Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will
declare what He has done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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