December 14

Dec 14 - Today from Proverbs 14 we look at verse 27
"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death."

The wilderness had suddenly turned into a foreboding vastness of danger. Danger from wild animals. Danger from heat exhaustion. Danger from starvation. Just a couple of hours ago all was well. Now fear gripped his heart. Yes, he was foolish. It was his own fault. He had set his pack way too close to the edge of the ravine. He tripped on a root -- or something -- and splayed out onto the dusty ground, face down. As he went down, he pushed the pack over the edge. It fell into the rushing torrent far below. He got up on his hands and knees and watched it bob in the churning waters until it disappeared around a bend. In it was his compass, his maps, his shelter, his food, his camp stove -- everything he depended on for survival in the wilderness. The only thing to do now was to carefully make his way down into the canyon and follow the river as best he could. Maybe the pack would get caught on an overhanging branch or something. Fear gripped his heart as he walked the ridge looking for a place to descend.
He stopped to rest and scanned the terrain. Wait! What was that? He happened to glance up on the ridge and he caught a glimpse of a reflection -- something glinting in the sun. He walked into a small clearing where he could get a better view. It was a small ranger station, and the sun was reflecting off the windshield of a . . . a CAR! A U.S. Forest Ranger's car! He quickly identified some landmarks and set his course for the station. He would be safe now.
The little illustration above gives us a good sense of what 'fear' means in the Proverb of today. No, it is not the fear the man felt for his future when he lost his pack. That is not how we are to fear God. It was the fear the man held for the Forest Ranger at the moment of discovery. A total trust and regard for an authority which represented safety, provision, and sound instruction. This fear was a powerful force. A force which turned the man from a frantic search for his lost pack in a deep ravine to a trek up a dominant ridge -- totally in the opposite direction.
"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life." A fountain is not still water, it is not a trickle. It is a force. The fear of the Lord is a force in life. When our eyes are opened to the reality of God's authority, His safety, His provision and His sound instruction -- we gladly end our pursuit of the small self-contained pack of what we thought might be our hope. Instead, we turn our efforts in pursuit of God.
Sometimes those things we perceive to be critical setbacks in life are God's providential ways of getting us free of self-sufficiency. Sometimes He needs to separate us from temporary things. Things that we believe to be the essence of life in order to get us to scan the greater terrain. These can be turning moments in life - turning us to discovery, fear and dependence on the One who is Life.
Where are you today? What bobbing pack are you chasing after down the torrent of life? Why not take a moment and scan the terrain. You may discover something far more sustaining than what you believe that temporary pack contains. He is right up there on the ridge - in all likelihood He is in the opposite direction of your current pursuit. What He offers is so much more than our limited self-contained packs. He offers LIFE, and life abundant. Know God and understand His infinite wisdom and ability. Continually fear God, and your dangerous pursuits of the trivial will cease. It is a force that turns.