Reeves' answer to his book's title What Does It Mean to Fear the Lord? is a good start. While it is a shorter version of a longer book. The book is Biblical and challenging. This difficult question is answered by explaining contrasting concepts like sinful fear vs. godly fear and righteous jealousy vs. selfish envy.Reeves continually reminds the reader that the fear of the LORD is about the heart and passion not merely the head and knowing the facts. The book’s use of various Bible narratives, Psalms, and Proverbs grounds the ideas of the book in Scripture.After reading the book, two thoughts came to mind.- How can I live in godly fear? Personally, what heart changes need to happen in my life?
- How can I help others live in godly fear? What basic truths do I need to be communicating to others?
As I read the book, I was struck by how the fear of God needs to move me to live for him not run away from Him. Some of the points, such as the example of Exodus, which appears on page 20, seem like they could have been developed more. At the same time, this is the shorter version of a longer book answering the question and this question is one that can not be completely understood by imperfect humans. It provides a great starting pointing to not merely think about the answer to this question but also to live out the significance of this.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book through Crossway's Blog Review Program.
