Do We Fear The Consequences Of Disobedience?
Have you ever wondered what this whole concept of fearing God is all about? After all, isn't God supposed to be all about love?
Let us begin our investigation of this matter on a level that is familiar to us; we begin with a parent (Jack) and his child (Joey).
Jack has established a rule that Joey is not to go down by the pond unless Jack is with him. Jack has not created this rule to prevent Joey from having fun, but rather, for Joey's safety.
Joey likes going down by the pond and views his father's rule as restrictive and unfair, Joey does not see his father's concern or love expressed by the rule.
Joey considers going down to the pond in spite of his father's rule.
As Joey considers this, he is counting or weighing the cost of disobedience. Joey acknowledges his father as a authority in his life and Joey knows that if he disobeys his father and goes down by the pond, he will be punished.
Joey is afraid of the punishment that his father will apply for his disobedience. Joey is not afraid of his father as one might be afraid of a mad man coming after us with a knife, but rather, as a person in authority who applies the punishment for disobedience.
After counting the cost, Joey decides not to go down by the pond until his father is home and can go there with him.
If Joey would have gone down by the pond, his father would have applied the necessary punishment, even though it would have saddened him greatly to do so. Jack loves his son and has established rules and consequences for Joey's well being and protection.
Therefore, Joey does not disobey his father, because he is afraid of the consequences of his disobedience.
Throughout Scripture God tells His people repeatedly that they are to obey Him and are not to rebel against His instruction. He tells them that His hand will be against them if they disobey.
In the following example, the Israelites complained that they wanted a king to rule over them in the same manner as other nations. The Israelites should have appreciated that the Lord was their king, but they persisted in their grumbling until the Lord instructed Samuel to anoint Saul as their king. Then after giving them their king, Samuel told the people the following:
1 Samuel 12:14,15 If you fear the Lord, serving him and obeying him and not rebelling against what he says, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well. But if you don’t obey the Lord and rebel against what the Lord says, the hand of the Lord will be against both you and your king. (NET)
God does love His people, and it is because of that love, that He has established rules for their own good, and just like Joey, God's people should be aware that punishment will eventually come for disobedience of those rules. Like Joey, they might believe those rules to be unloving and restrictive, even though that could not be further from the truth.
We need to ask ourselves:
Do we consider ourselves to be one of God's people?
Do we acknowledge God as the authority in our lives?
Do we acknowledge that He has rules?
Do we acknowledge that He has authority to punish us for disobedience of those rules?
Do we acknowledge that we disobey those rules?
If we answer NO to even one of these questions, we will be unable to understand the concept of the fear of God. We will be lost in darkness, unable to see our wretched sinful state and our need for a Savior.
If we answer YES to ALL of these questions, we have been given eyes to see the truth; we understand that no matter how hard we try going forward, we can never undo the disobedience (sin) that we have already committed and no matter how hard we try, we can never be perfectly obedient (sinless). We understand that we will have to face the punishment for our sin and we clearly see our need for a Savior. We understand our need for Jesus' sacrifice and appreciate God's gift of salvation through His Son. We desire to change from our sinful ways and praise God that He has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us on our new path. We acknowledge God as the ultimate authority and praise Him for the grace and mercy He extends to us.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NET)
Ephesians 2:8,9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. (NET)
Praise God that He has called us out of darkness.
Till next time
The NET Bible® is freely available at www.bible.org/