The Hinge

There are hinge words in sentences. Consider these:

"I can't stand him BECAUSE of what he did 11 years ago."
"I love her BUT I don't trust her."
"We know we love God's children IF we love God and obey his commandments."


Like a door, the weight is carried on a hinge point. It swings on one little word. Here's one more:
"and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." What is the hinge? The little word, "AS". Eleven words in the sentence but on this one word the weight of the whole sentence swings. We are praying in other words, "God deal with me AS I deal with others." Imagine saying, "God, I can't stand that person. They are so arrogant after all I've done for them. I want to clock them. Now Lord, deal with me the same way." Wow. Is that what we want? Do we really mean that prayer? More often what we really want is this: "God, when you're dealing with me, give me mercy and forgive me. But don't expect me to treat others that way." But we can't have it both ways. We must forgive others if we want forgiveness. And the hinge word there is "IF."
 
 
 
 

Avoiding a Wreck

Have you ever looked on at the choices someone is making and say, "Wow. There's a wreck ahead." Especially with the young, you want so badly to help them avoid pain. Becki and I don't have children but we often ask each other, "What would we do if that was our child?" (I admit. It's easier to imagine solutions when it's not your kid!) Most of the time, we look at each other and say, "I don't know. And that would sure hurt to watch." Because most of the time they won't listen to you once they get old enough to make their own choices.

"Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD." Psalm 34:11. This verse from King David's psalm is an interesting one. Why not:

• I will teach you the love of the Lord
• I will teach you the joy of the Lord
• I will teach you the compassion of the Lord

No, it's "I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Why? This is the beginning of wisdom. If we teach our children the love, joy, peace or compassion of the Lord without the fear of the Lord, they will not experience God's love, joy or peace in its fulness. It is the fear of the Lord that makes God's love exhilarating.

I know there is a great resistance to the concept of "fearing God" in many Christian circles to this but either the Bible is true and there's something we don't understand or the Bible isn't true. If fearing God is the "beginning of wisdom" (Pro. 9:10) then we need to figure out how to teach that. Some have said the answer is to say, "The Bible doesn't mean fear like we use it today." Or, "fearing the Lord is the beginning but it's not the end." But is this true?

What we can say is that fear should not be our exclusive response to God. Why do we know that is true? Because of what Jesus refers to as the greatest commandment in Matt. 22:36,37: "Love God with all..." So we must love Him too.

Fear without love leads us to terror. Fear with love calls us to worship and obedience. Listen to David's words again: ""Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD." If we begin there, we might avoid a lot of pain both for ourselves and our children. Fear pain and you don't drive recklessly. Fear prison and you will pay your traffic tickets. Fear God and you will keep His commandments. But love Him too.