Luke 12:4-10 - Fear God alone
Scripture:
Luke 12:4-10
4 "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.
5 "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
6 "Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.
7 "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
8 "And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God;
9 but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God
10 "And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.
NASU
NASU
Thoughts:
We are often consumed with fear or concern over many things, but Jesus makes it clear that we ought only to fear One: God. God is the One who will cast into hell all those who rejected Christ in this life (verses 8-9). This is always hard for us to hear, but the reality is that there is nowhere else for those who reject Him to go. Having spent their lives in rejection of Him, in eternity they will finally experience what they thought they wanted: existence apart from God's love.
And indeed, no one will be in hell that has not had at least one opportunity to respond to God's salvation through Christ. The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit mentioned here, is most likely the rejection of God's Spirit working on the inside, drawing us to Him. When we reject His call to salvation, there is no more forgiveness, because we've rejected the means of forgiveness.
Jesus is using a little bit of a play on words here. He tells us to fear God (verse 5), but then not to be afraid (verse 7). I think the point is that we are to have reverence for God, and rightly fear the consequences of rejecting His salvation, but we should not be afraid of Him, because He treasures each one of us. So much so, that He even knows how many hairs are on our head!
Tragically, we more often find ourselves fearing those who can only harm us physically, than revering God. In those times that we catch a glimpse of the fullness of this reverence, we find no reason to fear men. And looking back on our lives, if we counted all the times we feared and all the times anything really came of it, we'd find most of our fears were just wasted time and energy.
Prayer:
Lord, too often I find myself fearing others, and not fearing You! Everything around me becomes so important and I crowd You out.
Forgive me. Help me to live in the reverence of You, today. In the confidence of Your care and provision (verses 6-7). Change me. Make me a person of faith.
Amen
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