Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I want to point something out. At the very end of our Verse of the Day we see the word "gods" with a lowercase g. I think it's important to put a focus on this. The author made a point to say that God is to be feared above all gods, little g. It's so easy for us to put things in God's place. It could be a video game, it could be a family member, it could be a job opportunity—whatever the case may be, you've put so much focus on this one thing that it's gotten all of your attention. It's very easy to do this. But the Scripture points to the fact that our God is to be feared above all other little-g gods.
What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord?
Now that we've talked about the little g's, let's talk about fear. When I say "fear God," a picture could pop into your head of looking at a monster and being so scared you'd run the other direction. I don't think that's what the author is trying to convey. When you hear people talking about God, sometimes you might hear them say, fear the Lord, or you hear someone say, turn or burn. You hear all of these really dark, negative, scary images of what it is to approach our Father.
On the other hand, you hear people using buddy-buddy sort of language, like, that's my guy, God's my dude. I think both sides, if we swing too far in either direction, have gone too far. There is a respect for the Lord—but even saying "healthy respect" seems like it's sterilizing what we should really be feeling when it comes to observing the Creator of the universe. I was talking with some friends before we started filming, and the idea came up that it's going to be impossible to even begin to scratch the surface of what it means to truly fear the Lord—to understand Him in a way that overwhelms us and puts us in a state of awe and wonder. But we're going to try.
The Mountain Illustration
Picture this: a mountain. But you're standing miles away from it. I don't know if you did this as a kid, but if something was so far away, you could pretend it was between your fingers and try to squish it between your thumb and your pointer finger. You can do that with the mountain from as far away as you are. You have control—you can close your fingers and it disappears, and when you open them back up, there it is. But I want you to imagine yourself walking closer and closer to that mountain. Now your fingers get wider, and now your hands have to frame it, until you get right up to the foot of the mountain. You look up and the top of it disappears beyond the clouds. You look to your right, to your left—you can't even reach your arms around it. You realize what you had taken lightly from a distance, you now take seriously up close.
This is, I think, a good representation of what it means to fear the Lord. The closer you get to Him, the more familiar you become with His grandness, His majesty, His beauty, His power, the more honor you have for Him, the more seriously you take the words you bring to Him and the worship you bring. The Scripture we read was one of worship. It says, "Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise!" Every other little-g god that tries to set itself up against Him or take His place will always fall short. But when we have a right view of God, we could spend the rest of our lives into eternity and beyond and never fully scratch the surface—but we will grow in an understanding of what it means to fear Him in a way that is love, that is honor, that is awe, and is full of wonder.