Fear of God

Ecclesiastes 7:17-19 Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes. Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.

The first of our five Rukun Negara principles is to believe in God. Apparently, many have not fully lived their pledge. When we pledged that we believe in God, do we realise the enormity of those three little words? We go through life living for the here and now and are just overly concerned about material things but give little thought to our afterlife and the eternal.

When we believe in Him, we obey all His teachings faithfully. We also acknowledge the sovereignty and supermacy of God in all things. There are hypocrites who claim to believe in God. They pledge one thing but live their lives in opposition to what God wants.

A healthy fear of God will deter one from doing evil even when no one is watching.

Dr. C. I. Scofield defines 'fear of God' as 'reverential trust with a hatred of evil'. Fear of God means piety. It is used to expressed our religious duty towards God.

Job 1:1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

Let us pray that God will teach us to fear Him. Psalm 86 : 11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. While Proverbs 15:16 reminds us "Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil." and Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.