Devotion 24 – Conclusion
One of the most important aspects of growing in the fear of God is growing in the consciousness of His presence.
Jer.2:32 – “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.”
Just as it is unimaginable that a bride would forget her dress before she walked down the aisle on her wedding day, it should be unthinkable for God’s children to live even a moment without consciously remembering God. Unfortunately, the truth is that many are not conscious of God’s presence in their lives, day after day - the most precious of their treasures.
As a God-fearing man, David was keenly aware of never being absent from God’s all-pervasive presence.
Ps.139:2-3 – “You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.”
Yes, we are never out of His presence and His all-seeing eye.
Prov.15:3 – “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.”
The person who fears God is conscious that God is aware of every minute detail, every mundane activity in his or her life. Such awareness serves as a check on temptation to sin. This doesn’t mean living in constant fear that God is going to “get us”. It does mean that because we’re aware of His all-seeing eye and all hearing ear, we live in a way that pleases Him as He sees what we do and hears what we say. Thus, all our activities should be done in the fear of the Lord.
Our Thought lives
God not only sees and hears all that we do and say; He even knows our thoughts
Ps.44:20-21 – “If we had forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.”
1 Chro.28:9 - “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts…”
To live in God’s conscious presence means that we also live in the awareness that God knows the secrets of our hearts. The Hebrew word translated as “heart” generally refers to our entire conscious person – our reasoning, understanding, emotions, conscience and will. So basically, this verse is warning us to guard our thought life. We all have thoughts that we are ashamed of and do not want other people to know about, which we are too ashamed to share even with our spouse or closest friend – these thoughts are all fully known to God. We entertain thoughts of jealousy, covetousness, envy, resentment, lust, etc.
Hence, those who fear God seek to control their thought lives in the same way we regulate our conduct. Jesus makes it clear that our thoughts and heart attitudes are judged by God just as much as our actions
Matt.5: 27-29 - “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
For that reason, we need to be as obedient in our thoughts as in our actions.
2 Cor.10:5 – “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”
This is obviously a very high moral standard and we often fall short of it. For that reason, David taught us to pray.
Ps.19:14 - “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
The Strength of our Obedience
One of the most important fundamental truths we must learn in Christian growth is that we are
responsible, yet dependent. We are responsible to obey God’s command. We are responsible for our sin. We cannot blame the devil or others. We sin because we choose to sin. Yet at the same time we need to recognize we do not have the resources within ourselves to obey. We are completely dependent upon the Holy Spirit. Obedience to God is very much our responsibility - but a responsibility that must be carried out in utter dependence on the Holy Spirit.
The book of Ecclesiastes essentially teaches us how to live a meaningful life amid tension, frustration, and disappointment. Having covered a vast range of instructions, Solomon summed up his findings.
Ecc.12:13 – “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.”
May we all learn to walk in the healthy fear of the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit so that His Name is truly glorified in us and through us. Most importantly, that through our lives, people may also be inspired to love & fear Him.