Fear

I've always struggled with the idea of fearing God. I mean, how are you supposed to fear Him? I'm not scared that He's going to zap me with a bolt of lightning, and I don't think I ever will. So then do I not fear God? How does one fear God?

What popped into my mind is the idea that God is our King. Back when kings ruled, how did their subjects fear their king? True, some of them were really terrified of their king (if it was a bad king). God is a good king, though. He is fair and just. How would you fear a king like that?

I looked up the definition of fear. I came up with "reverential awe, esp. toward God." The word "reverential" didn't mean much to me, so I looked up "reverence" and found "a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe." So in this sense, fear means a deep respect tinged with awe. I can think of movies where I saw a subject bow to his king, and I can totally understand how they fear their king.

I now understand what it means to fear God. The funny part is that I've heard people explain "fearing God" to me before, and it just never clicked with me. I get it now. I'm good.

Fear is good. I fear ___ = ___ rules me. The key is to find the good things to fear.