Saturday Night Devotional

I Peter 1:17

     And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 

     Earlier we were taught that the proper response to gaining salvation is for us to live holy lives.  Here we see that the proper response to knowing God as our Father is to fear Him as Judge.  We do not abandon righteous living just because we are assured that our soul is saved, and we do not abandon fear of God our Judge, just because He has become God our Father.  In fact, we fear Him all the more because not only do we have a healthy fear of His judgments, but our love for Him now makes us fear His displeasure even more than we would have feared His punishments.  Oh how we long to see His smile toward us!  We know Him so well and love His acceptance and His approval so much!  But by knowing Him so well, we know how much He hates sin.  And so we live with healthy fear, knowing how prone to sin we are.  The verse calls on us to live in fear of God not just for a little while, but “throughout the time of your stay here.”  Not only do we avoid punishment by living in proper fear of the Lord, but we are promised great blessings by doing so.  David says, “Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.  When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.   Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord (Psalm 128:1-4).”  What a wonderful antidote for an unhappy family life!  If our marriage is marred and our family is dysfunctional, perhaps it is because our home has lost its fear of the Lord.  Unwholesome fear leads to nervousness, worry, and withdrawing from the people around us.  But David tells us that a father who fears the Lord is blessed with joy in the fruit of his labor, happiness in his marriage, and laughter at the dinner table.  No wonder Solomon said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10).”