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My house sits about 25 yards from Mud Creek. It’s not quite large enough to be a river. But it does take a bridge to get across. Several years ago, the town decided that bridge needed completely rebuilt. And due to my location, when that bridge, 25 yards from my house was out of commission – there was no shortcut to getting to the other side. The shortest route was nearly 5 miles around. 5 miles to go 25 yards. But as the old saying goes, when I wanted to just get across that small creek – “you can’t get there from here” was true. I couldn’t get there directly, even though it was so close. I needed to go somewhere else first. And that dear one is what it takes to understand the fear of the Lord.

I’m Reid Ferguson and we’ll talk about that today on Through the Word in 2020 as we consider Proverbs 2–6:19; Titus 1:5–2:15 and Luke 13:6–17.

The Fear of The Lord.

It’s mentioned over 400 times in the Bible. I have had many people ask me to explain exactly what the fear of the Lord is. And I always struggle to make it understood. Proverbs 2:1-4 tells us why. God’s appointment is that one does not come to know the fear of the Lord without His ordained process. You can’t just leap to it. You have to take His prescribed route. Watch the words of the text carefully.

1. God’s Word must be RECEIVED. We cannot obtain and understand the Word, if we do not take it in. We must be receiving it. Taking it in every day. Otherwise, we will not understand and apply it.

2. God’s Word must be TREASURED. We must count His communication to us as precious. Every syllable. Nothing omitted. God never makes small talk. Everything He has to say is of eternal importance. Do I treat His Word as an inestimable treasure?

3. My heart must be ATTENTIVE to His Word. I cannot just let it pass in one ear and out of the other. I must take it in, consider it, mull it over and think about its implications. Otherwise, it will do me no more good than rubbing an aspirin on my head in an attempt to ease a headache.

4. I must INCLINE my heart to understanding. I must have a heart that intends to respond positively to what is heard. I must want to know the truth. If I have no intention of obeying God’s Word, it will not yield its treasures up to me.

5. I must PRAY to understand and apply it. I must “call out”, and raise my voice to God in regard to it. I must make my application to the Author, to give me the same light to read it – that He penned it by. The same Holy Spirit who breathed it into the human scribes, must breathe it afresh in me if it is to have any effect. And I must be actively engaged in the pursuit of that in prayer if I would have it become my own.

6. I must SEEK for it. Those who sit back waiting for God’s wisdom to just seep into their brains and hearts without doing the necessary labor – are in for a rude awakening. You cannot sit in a vat of food and imagine you’ll get nutrition. One must do all the necessary work of planting, cultivating, harvesting, preparing, cooking – and yes – eating.

THEN – and ONLY then, will we actually obtain the promises contained in it. Because true Godly wisdom is something we can gain only from Him Himself. And this, is how He desires for us to get it – from His own hand.Then, and only then, we will begin to grasp the Fear of The Lord. For the revelation of Jesus Christ is found only in His Word.

God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.