Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Fear of our Lord
Joe Thomas

Chicago MTC
13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”
 
Solomon in 1 King 3:3-14 illustrates the fear of our Lord with a feeling of reverence, awe and respect directed toward God in fostering a spiritual healthful relationship.  As seen in the passage, fear of our Lord that Solomon demonstrates is not to elevate one’s social status and standard of living based on our time, talents and treasures. Verse 3 shows Solomon’s relationship of intimacy with God and verse 4 the level of depth of the relationship with a ‘thousand burnt offerings on that altar’.
Versus 6-9 Solomon highlights the response to God’s question ‘Ask! What shall I give you?’  Solomon starts with a three step approach.
§  Step 1:  Reverence of God’s grace, mercy and presence with Him, His father and community.
§  Step 2:  Resilience by petitioning that he is a little child needing coaching, guidance and parenting.
§  Step 3:  Reliance on God for a heart and mind to discern good and evil in his community.
The fear of our Lord as seen with Solomon challenges the sincerity of our discipleship.  God is first and not a commitment among other commitments, but rather a commitment of our lives(versus 3-4).  Our discipleship is not a matter of our ability but our availability, authenticity and authority under God(versus 6-9).
Randy Alcorn's book ‘Treasure Principle’ highlights six principles as beacon for our discipleship.
§  Principle #1:  God owns everything.  I am His Treasure manager.
§  Principle #2:  My heart always goes where I put God’s Treasures.
§  Principle #3:  Heaven, not earth is my home.
§  Principle #4:  I should not live for the dot(my present life on earth) but for the line(heading on into eternity).
§  Principle #5:  Giving is the only antidote to materialism.
§  Principle #6:  God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.

PRAYER

Gracious, merciful and precious God Almighty, open us to be available, authentic and surrender all authority to You.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Assess our discipleship by the standard of giving daily, weekly, monthly and annually.

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