What Kind of Fear

by Johnny McCulloch

"The fear of Jehovah, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job. 28:28.
Fear is by far the emotion experienced most by mankind today. Even Christians, with all their hope and God's promises, are not irmnune.
The rich fear for the safety of their wealth, the middle class fear that they will not succeed, and the poor fear they will not have the necessities of life.
Do we obey the speed laws because we like to drive slow, or that it is best for our cars? No, we are afraid we will be caught. Else, why do we jerk our foot off the accelerator then Ive suddenly see a patrol car parked beside the highway?
However, this is not the fear meant by Job and later enlarged on by Solomon in Proverbs. (Certainly we should "fear" God. As our creator He can and will doom us for eternity if we fail to obey Him.) It is like the fear we have for our parents who discipline us in a spirit of love. We hold them in awe, in reverence and in respect.
Unfortunately we have reared a generation of people that respect neither God, mankind, authori ty nor themselves. They regard the idea of an all power
ful creator as a myth. They fail to recognize the authority of their parents and of teachers.
The officers of the law are "pigs." They totally disregard the rights of their fellowman, throw refuse in his yard, wreck his mailbox and generally destroy his property. Most importantly they have no respect for themselves. Else Ivhy ruin good minds and bodies with drugs as many do?
Who has failed, the Bible school, the public schools, or our government? Probably none of the above. It is more likely the indulgent parents who lvanted to make it better for their children than it was for them. They gave them their every wish and let them go completely unsupervised. Punishment and discipline was nonexistent. The child deemed so cute as he calls his Mom and Dad by their given names is well on the road to disrespect of all authority.

• On Being a Soldier -Jun 05, 2005
• Fear and Fearless; Which Should We Be? -Oct 17, 2004
• Be Courageous! -Jun 09, 2002
• Freedom from Fear -May 12, 2002
• "And I Was Afraid" -Nov 14, 1993