March 8, 2024 -- Proverbs 8:13 -- The fear of the LORD which instructs a man in right pathways

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.
Proverbs 8:13 ESV

There is no such thing as good enough with the LORD our God. How many people save for retirement, but do not bank on eternity? How many people watch their diet and faithfully exercise without realizing the end of their life is near and they will face eternity under the hatred of God Who is Holy beyond comprehension?

Those who claim to love God hate evil. That is the simplest definition of a Christian: one who hates evil. The Christian humbles himself before Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life—in sharp contrast to way of the world which Proverbs describes as the way of evil. The Christian asks, are my feet pointing in the direction of all that is right and good and holy? He keeps to the path Jesus sets before him.

The fear of the LORD is that fierce dedication to Him which exposes temptations to lust, to anger, to getting high, to starting on any evil pathway as empty and vile. The fear of the LORD instructs the man in the way that he should choose (Psalm 25:12). The fear of the LORD is his guide. The fear of the LORD is the humility which is anchored in Jesus Christ. When a man sins, he knows he has an advocate-mediator, Jesus Christ. When a man sins he doesn’t justify it, he repents, turning to Jesus and hating this sin more and more. The fear of the LORD is that devoted loyalty and love for Jesus prompting a man to forsake all other loyalties and loves that would interfere with his deep commitment to Jesus, Who, having left the throne of heaven, became a man, dying in our place, bearing God’s wrath against sin so that the believer would forever be right with God. Ah, such love fills a man and motivates him to respond in love.

ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father; we have erred and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; according to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy holy name. Amen.

Prayer of Confession from DIVINE SERVICE BOOK FOR THE ARMED FORCES, 1950, page 5

https://youtu.be/HSmQpDtTVl0?si=i7aB4emREjZYdQBm All Sufficient Merit//Shane and Shane

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