Proverbs 14:27

I'm longing to see him, even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point.

Peter, a proper understanding of God leads us to a sense of fear and at the same time a longing to know him. In affirming both the complete holiness of God and the goodness of God, we can begin to understand what it means for us to fear God. The fear of the Lord is a holy admiration of God stemming from the right understanding of God, resulting in a submission to God. The fear of the Lord is less horror and more reverence. It's something that goes beyond mere respect for God, but stops shy of just sheer terror. My favorite example of this is throughout Exodus. Exodus 14, verses 30 and 31.

That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and Moses his servant.

Or even Exodus 20 verses 18 and 19.

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain and smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distant and said to Moses, speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.

God is truly terrifying. But if we see what comes after the fear is a form of obedience. After they saw a complete massacre of the Egyptians, they put their trust in the Lord. After witnessing a truly apocalyptic scene, they listened. Biblical fear is a real fear, but a fear that combines love and obedience. This is where wisdom starts. Proper fear of the Lord tunes our hearts to trust, seek, follow, and love our God. In this verse in Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is compared to a fountain of life. So why is this terrifyingly dangerous God referred as a fountain of life? A fountain is a spring of water that rushes out of the earth. Every known living thing on Earth needs water to survive. It's an undeniable fact. It's so undeniable that in the pursuit of finding life outside of Earth, the United States government spent over $640 million to send a probe all the way through space to Mars with the primary goal of finding water, just hinting at the sign of life on Mars. If there is no water, there is no life. but God is the source and creator of life. In Genesis, we see that God created the heavens and the earth. We see God form man from dust of the ground and breathe life into him. Not only that, but God is a sustainer of life. Just as a fountain continually supplies water, God continually provides what is necessary for life to flourish. Matthew chapter 6, 26 states,

look at the birds in the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

This divine provision is a continual reminder that our omnipotent God is with us. However, what's more profound than this life is eternal life. John 414 says, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well,

whoever drinks of the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.

God offers not just life in the present, but life that transcends death.

God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that Whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

God is the fountain of life. He is the creator and sustainer of life. He is the ultimate refuge from death. What more can we yearn for in our lives than to be with the one who gives us eternal life? So why is the fear of the Lord a fountain of life? It's a fountain of life because through fearing God, we come to trust, follow, and love him. In turn, we enjoy many blessings and satisfactions in life that he provides. Those who do not fear the Lord can never be near the Lord. Without fear of the Lord, we cannot glorify God or enjoy him forever. Without fear of the Lord, we would never come to Christ. I hope this brings us peace and reassurance that our God is indeed dangerous and powerful, but our God is also good, that he loves us enough to send Christ to die for us while we were still sinners, that he's with us and for us, that the fear of the Lord gives us life because we find complete satisfaction in him. This leads us to our second question. Why do we turn away from the snares of death? We are incredibly blessed that we have a loving God that sent his one and only son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus defeated sin, defeated death, but that does not exempt us from falling into temptation and sin. We still live in a fallen world. Deception and falsehoods continue to run rampant in all of our lives, and we still prowl around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. This verse calls it a snare of death. A snare is a device used to capture animals. It typically consists of a noose that's placed in a path where animals are likely to travel. When the animal enters the snare and moves through it, the noose tightens around the neck, trapping it. This verse also says to turn away from the snares, not only implying that they are in our path, but if we are moving or going towards them. These snares can appear out of nowhere. I can give you a personal example. A couple months ago, I was placed into running for a promotion at work after being there for two years. This promotion would have increased my salary significantly. My boss came up to me and asked me for more details about some previous work I did before joining their company. Turns out this promotion required five years of experience. He asked me about products on my resume that spans more than three years. He asked me if it was part-time work or full-time work. From the moment he finished that sentence, I knew I could lie. I'll be honest, my heart was full of greed for financial gain. I wanted to lie. All I had to say was I worked full-time. They'd even check if I had an engineering degree before they hired me, so they definitely would not have called my previous employer. But God gave me the strength to answer him honestly. I told him that I was actually part-time intern for those three years. These snares are everywhere. They're hard to find. But if we fall into enough of them, they surely will lead to destruction and death. Persistent disobedience to the Lord and continual sin can only lead to a hardened heart and spiritual blindness. So how do we turn away from this minefield of traps? Temptation of sin is so abundant, our own sins are oftentimes the hardest to see. But with the fear of the Lord, we are no longer like a moth flying towards an open flame to our demise. God's saving grace has freed us from being slaves to sin. We often fall for these snares because we find creative ways to justify our own sins. Often we do that because we are in a society that does that. Like it or not, the people we are around do indeed influence our behaviors and thoughts. For example, students, if there's any in here. Everyone uses Chegg or ChatGPT, so I might as well use it too. Wrong, it's still cheating. If you're driving through Maryland and everyone's flying by at 90 miles per hour, you might as well just follow them. Wrong, still speeding. Conversations at work with Mary, Barbara, John, whatever. Did you hear Alex didn't show up to work? Oh, I heard he was arrested, whatever. You don't need to join those conversations. That's just gossip. It's frankly so easy to fall into it, but through the fear of the Lord, we know it's wrong and can stand firm against it, even when others think it's okay to do so. Fear of the Lord leads us towards a path of righteousness and life, steering us away from the snares and pitfalls of sin. With wisdom, we are able to seek God's guidance and follow his principles. Living in alignment with God will inherently lead us away from behaviors and attitudes that could bring us in harm's way. Ultimately, by fearing God, we are empowered to navigate life's temptations with integrity, strength, and wisdom. Looking back at all this, we can see that the fear of the Lord is not just about reverence. It's about aligning our lives to his will. The fear is a fountain of life, guiding us away from the snares of death and towards paths of righteousness and eternal satisfaction. That we should continually seek this holy fear, trusting in God's provision and embracing the eternal life he offers through Christ. I just want to end with two points of encouragement as we finish this devotion. The first one being, don't shy away from embracing a reverent submission to God. This reverent fear of the Lord leads us to approach God with humility and surrender. This fear isn't about fearfulness, but about embracing God's wisdom and guidance. It liberates us, fostering intimacy with our creator and guiding us to live purposely in his will. You can do that by faithfully studying his word. Set aside time to do, whether that's by yourself or in a group. If you want to study in a group, but you don't have a group to go to, ask around. There's plenty of small groups around. We can also embrace our reverence to God through worship and praise. Consistently participating in worship helps to keep our focus on God's greatness and goodness. Praising him reminds us of his sovereignty and our dependence on him. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. In fact, Natalie right there, she's having a worship night tonight. It's an excellent opportunity to partake in worship and make a joyful noise with one another. If you're interested, just talk to her after the devotion. I'm sure she's more than happy to give you more details. Secondly, resist temptations by fearing God. When we grow in the fear of the Lord, we also grow in his wisdom and discernment. If we walk through life exercising those blessings, it will guard and guide us away from these snares of death. That when temptation comes, we will have eyes to see the dangers it possesses and leads to. Developing a strong relationship with God can only lead to a larger reverence for him, fostering a deep respect for his holiness and desire to please him. That when temptation lures you in, you can stand firm of knowing what is right and wrong. We should be continually reminding ourselves of God and who he is and what he has done and continue to do in our lives. That will strengthen us to have moral integrity. Better yet, remind one another of God's goodness. Gather and have fellowship with other believers, encouraging each other in walking with God. Give one another accountability. I hope this helps us live in a freedom of integrity. that it empowers us to make choices aligned with God's wisdom, and through fearing the Lord, and through fearing the Lord well, it shapes all of our lives into testimonies of his love and faith and truth. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight in awe of your greatness and goodness. Thank you for revealing to us through your word that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and a fountain of life. May this reverence guidance our hearts and minds, shaping us into vessels of your love and grace. Lord, help us turn away from the snares of death and walk in the path of righteousness. Grant us wisdom and discernment of your will and the strength to follow it faithfully. Thank you for being our refuge and the source of our eternal life through your son, Jesus Christ. As we depart from this time of reflection, may your spirit continue to work in us, deepening our fear of you and our love for you. May our lives bring glory to your name as we live in obedience to your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.