Do not fear because God has come to test you, so that you fear.

Exo 20:20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin."

Do not fear because God has come to test you, so that you fear.

It is common for God to prohibit one thing while He uses the same thing (only different) to do His will in the world and in our lives. We are not to delight in the world, but delight in Him. This is one of our chief ends. Wisdom of this world is demonic, wisdom from above is holy. So our world is not made up of stuff (wisdom, knowledge, truth, fear) that is one thing. Almost all stuff has two origins or natures. There is the stuff of heaven and the stuff of earth. When, however the stuff of heaven touches the stuff of earth, there is transformation and redemption. God is busy, through us, redeeming everything. He is not just redeeming humans, but all of creation.

Throughout history we can find people who tried to be holy. Some tried "out of a fear of the Lord" and others "out of a love for the Lord". If we choose one or the other, we will not be transformed to the degree that we hope for. Fear is often the beginning of wisdom in the service of the Lord, but falls short of deeper things. Yet if you try and move in love without first establishing fear of the Lord, you have a grace that is more centered in man than in God.

Here at the mountain of God, the people were learning to fear the Lord and not sin. We too need to have this as a foundation in our relationship with God. Some have moved on to call God "friend", "Daddy"," lover" and have not built their spiritual house or relationship on the honor, respect and fear that God requires. Man needs to know that he is nothing before he can receive the grace to know that he is an image bearer and a son of the King. Many a son has ran off with the Fathers wealth and squandered it on wild living, only to find himself in the pig pen of life. That is where we all end up without having a real fear of the Lord in our lives. We take God's gifts and run with them. We have fun for a season but end up serving other gods and starving to death.