“Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.” (Proverbs 28:14 NLT)
I’m not sure if there are very many people that “fear” to do wrong anymore. It seems like “anything goes” and most people aren’t ashamed to flaunt their evil. Actually, most of them don’t even consider it as evil! I'm concerned about the things our children and grandchildren will be exposed to in the years to come. Part of the problem is that people are shortsighted and don’t understand that even if you get away with something here, it doesn’t mean you won’t answer for it when you stand before God. Our society has thrown off all restraint in the pursuit of their sinful passions. This proverb says that the one who is “blessed” is the one that fears “to do wrong.” They have an understanding of eternal things and know the eternal God. They know the consequences are more than temporary, they may well be eternal. We can’t stop what society around us does, but we can personally live in light of what we know to be the truth about God. A healthy dose of “fear” is good in the believer's life. This is not the fear of losing your salvation, but fear of meeting Christ knowing that you have flaunted His ways, His will and His Word. While the believer is assured of being with Christ in Heaven, there is still the reality of the Judgment Seat of Christ. It’s there that our works will be examined as to whether they were worthy of our Savior and whether we followed His instructions. Some of them will be rewarded, but others will result in our “suffer[ing] loss.” (cf. I Corinthians 3:15) We need to ask God to make us sensitive to things that displease Him and to convict us when we are wrong. We simply don’t want to go on in our “stubbornness” and meet the consequences of doing life our way. Maybe our society doesn’t know right from wrong anymore, but those of us that know Jesus have no excuse. We have a Bible that explains what God requires of us and it’s our lifelong task to learn what it says so we can do right. We must filter everything we do through the truth of scripture. Ask yourself often, “What does God say about this?” Don’t trust your emotions to make decisions in areas where you don’t know if God has something to say about a matter. Christianity seems restrictive to some people, but God knows what is best for us...now and when we meet Him in Heaven. We might talk our way out of some things here, but that won’t happen in His presence!
