| "No
Fear" by Cathy Vinson |
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We don't get far into the Scripture before encountering a word with
such frequency that we must come to grips with it: "fear." Fear God. Vine
defines the fear of God as "the wholesome dread of dipleasing Him." The saints
of old feared God. Jesus, too, says, "I will show you whom you are to fear (phobia):
Fear Him" (Luke 12:5).
As we move on through its pages, relationship to God begins to flicker with a new nuance,
a bonding beyond even fear. Zechariah's estatic prophecy foretells "a horn of
salvation...to enable us to serve Him without fear (phobia) in holiness and righteousness
before Him all our days" (Luke 1:74). Without the distance created by fear, we would
serve closely before Him. Without the fear of weighing every action against right or
wrong, the purest holiness and righteousness could be attained in service. We would be
drawn nearer to Him than ever.
This level of service to God was later enlarged through John (see 1 Jn 4:17-18). When love
is made complete, "as He is, so ARE WE in this world." He saw perfect love not
only displacing fear, but actually casting it out. Because we are already before Him all
our days, the dread of coming judgment is stripped away. Fear gives way to perfect love,
and perfect love draws us near.
Even though we are "enabled" to serve without fear, we must now press onto this.
Fear is the excellent beginning, "the beginning of wisdom" (Prov 9:10). But we
are now called to enlarged boundaries. Revere, yes! Extol, yes, yes! And rejoice that His
love can be made perfect in us..."The man who fears (phobia) is not made perfect in
love" (1 Jn 4:18).
"The darkness is passing, and the true light is already shining" (1 Jn 1:8).
Press on for this is our day to shine!.
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