Sand Mountain Sermonette 71
Ecclesiastes 12:13;
“Red” Mabrey
“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” Ecclesiastes 12:13
In my thirty-one years of ministry, there is a very familiar question I have been asked many times, “What does it mean to live in the fear of the Lord?”
When I was a little kid all the way up into my early twenties, every time I would visit with one of my father’s relatives everyone referred to as “Red” Mabrey, “Red” would look at me with a great big smile on his face, reach into his pocket to pretend to get his pocket knife (which he always had with him), and say to me, “Louie, I’m gonna come over there and lower those ears, boy!” That was the first thing he would say to me every time I saw him at our annual Mabrey reunions or wherever else it may be. But I loved “Red” for he was really a great guy!
What does it mean to fear the Lord? Is the Bible saying we need to fear him because He’s going to “lower our ears” or hit us on the head with a big old stick if we don’t do what He says? However, nothing could be farther from the Biblical truth! The most common Old Testament word for “fear” means to stand before God with reverence and respect and the most common New Testament word for “fear” speaks of a reverential awe that becomes the controlling motivation for our lives as Christians.
Over the years God has been teaching me that seeing Him for who He truly is in prayer and through His word, increasingly makes all the difference in how I live my life. For example, when I view God as an unpleasable taskmaster instead of the loving and patient God He truly is, I become much more impatient, fearful, frustrated, and discontented with myself and with others. And, when I attempt to run my life on my own terms rather than reverencing and respecting God as being the sovereign and holy God He also is, I find myself often overwhelmed by all the “things” I need to get done as pastor each day.
The Bible says Solomon (the author of Ecclesiastes) is the smartest man who ever lived but Ecclesiastes also tells us that Solomon had come to learn that life itself was empty without God but full and purpose-filled when one “feared God and kept His commandments, because this applies to every person.”
One has said that in many places of worship we have forgotten the holiness of God and I agree! But, what if you and I began to invite the Holy Spirit to instill within our hearts and minds a new reverence and respect for the Lord so that we want to follow Him more and the ways of the world, less? What do you think would happen? I believe a new hunger for God’s word and an attitude of thanksgiving and praise would leap from our lips and our hearts for a listening ear is much more rewarding than the erroneous fear of a “lowered ear.” Enjoy the majestic God who loves you so!
Pastor Louie