Driven by Eternity DAY 18
WHAT KEEPS US FROM SIN
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)
The fear of the Lord accomplishes something amazing for us—it keeps us from sin. One might ask why the fear of the Lord works this way since it is so counterintuitive; God explains why. It’s because when His fear is in our hearts, we will not depart from Him. We know there is no good apart from God, so the fear of the Lord brings us good because it keeps us near Him. (Bevere, John)
To fear the Lord is to fear trying to live life without the Lord. Something changes when we begin to experience the love of God. We become motivated by that love and we develop a desire to never find ourselves outside of that love. It all sounds backward but then so does the Jesus way of living. So, the fear of the Lord draws us into a closer relationship with God. And we never want to find ourselves, by our own choice, living outside of God’s love. We just don’t! Does that make sense?
From the Kitchen Table 