Grace that Teaches and Relieves Fear
February 26, 2024
‘Twas Grace that Taught My Heart to Fear
"…. Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." - Deuteronomy 4:10b
School has been in session for a while now, but in reality, it has been in session all of our lives. God has been teaching us through all of our experiences the twin lessons of fear and trust. Some may call this “law,” but the New Testament translates even the law into the schoolmaster of grace through Christ Jesus.
Grace has taught our heart to fear. This is the fear of God, the fear that dispels all other fears. It is the fear that teaches us that God is God and we are not. It is the fear that we experience when we realize how awesome His power is and how pure is His holiness. It is the fear that knows His standards superimposed against our failures. It is the fear that causes us to both tremble and rejoice, to hesitate in His presence, yet approach at His invitation. It is the fear that enables us to be fearless in the face of all other dangers and acknowledge Him as Lord of all. Grace teaches us such fear. It is the gift of God who reveals Himself to us as He is.
"… what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul ..." - Deuteronomy 1:12
What God requires of us is that we know He is God and behave accordingly. That means that we will walk in His ways, that we will love Him, that we will serve Him, and that we will do all of this wholeheartedly with all of our strength.
He wants us to mean business with Him and not to take Him lightly. He wants us to grow in our appreciation of His mystery and wonder. He wants us to catch a glimpse of His character and not take Him for granted. He wants us to revere His Name and live in awe of His glory.
Grace is our teacher in these matters, because God could have left us in the dark. He could have treated us with indifference as a people of no consequence. But we are not inconsequential in His eyes. We are people for His pleasure and for Him to fully enjoy us, we must learn to enjoy Him. Before we can enjoy Him, we must know Him and that means, as He is. So grace teaches our hearts to fear.
ONLY:
1. Fear the LORD your God
2. Walk in all his ways
3. Love him
4. Serve God with all your heart and soul
5. Keep God's commandments.
6. Circumcise your heart.
7. Stop being stubborn.
8. Love strangers.
9. Clothe and feed them.
10. Worship God.
11. Enjoy your blessings!
Deuteronomy 10:12-22:
So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the LORD your God, the earth with all that is in it, yet the LORD set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.