Life Matters - June 14, 2026
‘’The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.’ (Proverbs 15:23) Chapter 16 v. 6 addresses the fear of the Lord as well; ‘By mercy and truth iniquity is purged; and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.’
There is a reasonable fear and there is an unreasonable fear. We rightly fear the State Trooper sitting in his marked car along the highway. We may glance at the speedometer and be glad we’re not speeding or be sorry that we are, but either way we are acknowledging the right of the officer to enforce the rules of the road. Checking our speed is a reasonable thing to do in this case, being borne out of a respectful fear concerning the officer’s authority. The officer has higher authority he may appeal to if needed. All the way to Romans chapter 13.
The State Trooper is, however, restricted by jurisprudence. If he goes beyond the jurisdiction of his authority he himself becomes the transgressor. He may not, for instance, arrest or give a citation for having a Bible – even hundreds of Bibles – in my car. If he does so in the U.S.A. he steps outside of his authority into a realm unsupported by his superiors. He is on his own.
That is not true for everywhere through all time. Unless…unless our appeal goes to the top – our ultimate authority – God. And herein is the crux of the matter; is it not? It is a matter of where, and to whom, our ultimate fear – borne of respect – goes. Where – and with whom – does that respectful fear, reverence as in Strongs Concordance, find its final resting place? Does it begin and end with man or does it go all the way to the One whose Word contains much instruction besides Romans 13?
It is therefore reasonable that reverential fear begins with a drawing near to God and finds its final resting place in the safety of His presence. When the soul surrenders to the humbling, perhaps condemning (because of us in contrast to His holiness) presence of God, then the way is opened for the glorious light of the Gospel to shine in, dispelling the darkness – removing the burden of sin – Jesus’ blood washing the sinner clean, pure, and made whole – drinking of the water of Life freely that out of our bellies may flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38) ‘Against such there is no law.’ (Galatians 5:22-23) Such an one is not only constrained by law – he is motivated by the Spirit of Jesus Christ in the inner man. And that, dear friends, is a reasonable way to live.
It is therefore unreasonable that reverential fear should ever begin with man as the one upon whom such reverence is ultimately focused, for that is a focus belonging to God only. God is ultimate and our reverential fear finds its final resting place in the safety and comfort of His presence. There is no safety nor comfort in allowing man – any man – into that space of ‘Ultimate’. It is a space only God can fill – man – any man – is woefully inadequate.
Muhammad was such a man. Woefully inadequate. He died in the year of our Lord 632 and is still just as dead as he was then. Despite any and all the reverence of his followers he is still dead and his teachings just as deceptively blinding, especially to those who are raised in the Muslim religion, a religion that is solely based upon one fallible and mortal man’s testimony, writings, and the life that he lived, religiously sprinkled with a bit of skewed Old Testament history. Others may have teachings, thoughts, and writings, but ultimately it all stems back to one mortal, fallible man and how he understood an angel speaking on behalf of a god he called Allah. Were we to attempt an appeal to higher authority, there is none higher in Islam.Only a vague and distant god who has ‘authority’ based upon the words of one fallible man called Muhammad.
But Muhammad is ‘The Prophet’ they say. And the people who write such things, as I just did about him, should be killed.
All final judgement, however, belongs to Jehovah God. He is holy, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient; all-powerful, present everywhere at once, all-knowing: He can, and will, judge righteous judgement. He does not, and will not, make mistakes. May that Truth; all Truth; be settled in our hearts and minds. We rightly give Him reverence, we rightly fear to go against Him, we rightly receive instruction from His wisdom, we rightly humble ourselves in His presence, we rightly look to Him for the mercy and truth of Jesus, the only mediator for our sins. We rightly look to Him through Jesus Christ for the highest possible honor, of being saved from this present corruption and being received into His presence. Before that honor comes humility. Not what these hands have done can save this guilty soul. Jesus Lives and Jesus saves!
A reasonable fear of God leads the soul to a trusting surrender and humility in His presence. An unreasonable fear of God is the kind of fear that tries to avoid His holy presence, tries to avoid a comparison with His holiness, tries to avoid reverential fear, which is the instruction of wisdom.
‘’There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.’ (Proverbs 14:12) In the short run it may temporarily feel better to temporarily avoid judgement, but in the long run there is relief in surrendering to The One who truly cares, The One who sees our self- righteousness – Muslim or otherwise – as filthy rags. The One who will clothe all who come to Him, being repentors in heart and mind, with the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord and only Savior.
A misdemeanor may well become a felony by attempting to escape being rightly charged for a lower-level infraction of law.
Running away from God’s Law is not a good way to be reconciled to the Lawgiver.
Surrender to Jesus opens our lives to the ultimate honor. There is eternal safety and comfort in His presence.
Life Matters!