Learning Fear (part 1)

“And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.”  (Deuteronomy 14:23)

This verse articulates something rarely discussed around the topic of ‘the fear of God’.  Usually the discussion centres on what that fear is supposed to look like: are we to be literally afraid of God?  Or are we supposed to be simply filled with awe?

But here we see that the fear of God isn’t just a concept to understand, but rather an attitude to learn through an intentional lifestyle.

By needing to learn the fear of the Lord, it becomes obvious that this is an attitude that doesn’t come naturally.  This means that it takes effort on my part to get my heart aligned right.  Focusing on concepts nor on actions are enough to lead to transformation.

In fact, I suppose that attitudes are often given second-class citizenship after concepts and actions.  But here, we see that the action of tithing is to be performed in service of getting our attitude right.

The prize then, in God’s perspective is our heart’s transformation.  Oh praise him for pursuing such profound change within us, not being satisfied with mere surface activities.  And God, may the fear of you be something I learn to my core.  May I have the faith to walk in your ways so that I may learn well.