Fearing God

"....I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land" (Jonah 1:9).

These are the words of Jonah. In my Bible I added a few question marks by this verse because what he says strikes me as odd. You see, Jonah was fleeing from God, he did not obey the Lord, he was resisting God, and was actually going the complete opposite direction from where God had commanded him to go. What strikes me as odd is that in the midst of running from God he says, "and I fear the LORD". My question marks are my way of saying, are you kidding me! How can Jonah be saying that he fears the Lord when he is absolutely running from Him?

To fear the Lord is to reverence, respect, and obey Him. To fear the Lord is to seek to obey Him in all things at all times. We are not to pick and choose to obey when we agree with Him, or when it's convenient.

One Sunday a young couple that was visiting our church came up to talk to me. They said they loved our church, the worship and teaching were a blessing, and the people were warm and welcoming. I was pleased to hear that, and of course thanked them. The couple then began to ask me a variety of questions including salvation by Jesus alone, and the issues of abortion and gay marriage. I opened the Bible and answered them. I was curious as to why so many questions, and asked them. They told me they were Christians who love Jesus and they were looking for a church that taught the Bible in a way that agreed with their personal and progressive beliefs. I then understood what the personal beliefs were, so I again tried to gently show them what the Bible had to say. They were not rude or argumentative, but they haven't come back.

The couple was basically saying, we want God and we want Jesus, but on our terms, in a way that is comfortable with us, and what we want. That couple is not alone, in fact their attitude is very prevalent in these days. There are many who pull a Jonah who said....I know I'm a Hebrew, I believe in God, in fact I'm a prophet, I just don't like what He wants me to do, I'll be going another direction.

God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and always right. It is best for us to learn humble maturity and realize that our will many times may not line up with God's will. If we love and fear Him, we admit He is right and we set our feelings aside and obey.