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When I was twelve, I slept in my parent’s bed. (Yes, it was a low point.)
I did this because I was afraid. I remember that night like it was last night. I remember how scared I was. I remember how I longed for their protection because I was scared to close my eyes, alone, in my own room. I never did that growing up, but this night was different. I did not want to be alone. That night, I watched The Blair Witch Project and it freaked me out!
If you don’t know what The Blair Witch Project is, here’s the IMDB site. Put down the Tide Pods, click and learn youngin’.
I was legitimately afraid and I ran to my parent’s king-sized bed and gingerly crawled in between them, laid down, and stayed as still as I could. They had no idea I was there until they woke up in the morning and wanted to know why in the world their twelve-year-old son, who was almost the same size as his father, was sleeping in the same bed as them.
I was afraid the Blair Witch was going to get me and I needed the protection of my parents just to be able to close my eyes and try to go to sleep. Now, that happened over 20 years ago and I still remember that night with clarity. The reason for this, according to a recent study, is that my brain processed the emotion of the fear I was experiencing during and after that movie in one part of my brain and then sent neurological signals to another part of my brain that houses memories. Therefore, my brain remembers the fear I was experiencing and what I did in response to that fear over two decades later.
The fear that gripped me and wouldn’t let me go to sleep in my own bed, that caused me to be very irrational and do something that I had never really don’t growing up is not the same type of fear that we see in the Bible when it talks about the fear of the Lord.
Now, it’s understandable to think that that is what scripture is talking about. After all, whenever we talk about fear it is always as a negative thing. But that is not the case when it comes to the fear of the Lord, in fact it is the exact opposite. The fear of the Lord is positive thing and something that you should seriously start thinking about and incorporating in your life. Honestly, the fear of the Lord should be normal and common place among followers of Jesus because it is exactly how Jesus lived his life.
“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:2-3a
Even though is a really weird phrase, the fear of the Lord should be how followers of Jesus are described by everyone. Our culture doesn’t describe Jesus followers that way because we really don’t fear the Lord. If we did, then the culture would take note and actually respect us for it (2 Chronicles 17:10).
What is the Fear of the Lord?
The phrase the fear of the Lord appears 27 times in my English Standard Version Bible. You can get a complete list as a FREE DOWNLOAD in the resources section.
It's a helpful list, but overkill for this article, (you’re welcome) but let’s look at a few verses that will help us fully understand all of the intricacies of what the Bible means when it talks about the fear of the Lord.
The Hebrew word for fear is yir-ah which is directed toward God. This Hebrew word has a range of meanings that include: fear, terror, reverence, piety, and awesome. This range of meaning is important because we only associate fear with negative things, whereas the writers of Scripture have a different view of fear than modern cultures and readers do today.
For them, the fear of the Lord was intentionally living a life that prioritized God over everything. Fearing the Lord was a choice that rippled out into every area of their lives, which made them vastly different than every other people group. The Israelites lived their lives differently than the Egyptians, even though they lived side-by-side for a time and then as their slaves for a very long time. The Israelites lived their lives differently then the Romans, even though Rome was the geo-political power for most of the New Testament time period.
Intentionally choosing to live a life fueled by your fear of the Lord brings honor to God because of how awesome he is and your life is reflecting that fact. Fear of the Lord means your relationships look different than those around you. Fear of the Lord means you bank account is structured strangely compared to your neighbors because you intentionally give God 10% of what he gives you. Fear of the Lord means your browsing history and entertainment choices are vastly different than your roommates.
Why? Because you are intentionally living your life is such a way that brings God honor and glory because he is awesome and worthy. Plus, you want to live a happy and successful life!
The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm. - Proverbs 19:23
For us today, I believe that the best way to understand the concept of the fear of the Lord is reverently giving God honor for how awesome and amazing he is by living your life the way he wants you to live it. Fear of the Lord literally means paying any price necessary in order to give God honor, glory, and worth by how you tangibly live out your life. It’s a choice.
Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. - Proverbs 23:17
Choosing to live this way means you stop scrolling through TikTok challenges that idolize certain parts of women’s bodies and actually start respecting the opposite sex instead of being an online private preditor.
Fear of the Lord means restructuring your financial life to reflect that you depend on God and not your bank account (Prov. 15:16). It means installing an internet filter to stop yourself from going down that same road of seeking pleasure only to be let down and left feeling emptier than you previously were.
You need to fear the Lord because he is awesome and worthy of it. You need to fear the Lord because doing so leads to life, a life that is wild, adventurous, and fulfilling (Prov. 10:27; 14:26-27). Fearing the Lord is something that you should want to do because it actually benefits you (Prov. 19:23; 22:4) while giving worth to the one who created you and has good in store for you.
Ultimately, you should live your life this way because the fear of the Lord means you are living wisely (Prov. 1:7; 9:10). You wont be perfect at it, but it is a habit worth developing in your life and it will pay off in the long run (Ps. 111:10).
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Let’s discover, develop, and deepen our relationships with Jesus together.