Fear of the LORD after Grace

[Red_Letters88]

I personally feel, and after prayer this entered my mind, that Christians nowadays downplay fear of the LORD in their walk with Christ. Some of you may be thinking, we shouldnt "fear" the LORD (in context of frightfulness) because he tells us he is our Father and Shepherd. Well in this context of fear, I would say- this is correct- don't be "fearful" of going to the LORD. The fear I'm talking about however- and definitely applies after grace- is respect and reverence for God- simply because who He is and because He holds our lives and souls in his hands. Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.I believe that the bible (NT included) teaches that this fear of the LORD makes right our paths in His righteousness and keeps us humble before men and God. Deuteronomy 13:4It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.Just the opposite, I say a lack or absence of this fear of God produces unfruitfulness. Just like the "seeds who hear the word, yet let the worlds worries and the worlds fears drive them away from the word. (Mark 4:18-19) Some of the recent (and not so recent) ideas have taught their followers that God is a mere "name-tag" to wear/or not wear in life. Without this "healthy fear" of God- reverence and respect are no more than "learned ideas."Matthew 15:8-9'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'In this study of fear of the LORD- I thought about Jesus' parable on the Two Sons. I believe this is a good example of how fear guides us. We have an example of one son who was told by his Father to "Go, and work in the vineyard" and the son replied, "I will sir" but did not go. The other son is told "Go, and work in the vineyard" and that son replied, "I will not" but later changed his mind and went. I personally think the son who said he would go- but never did are like those today that have "signed up for salvation" but grew tired of this "working idea" This son is simply acting out not in fear- but in laziness. The other son first replies in his stubbornness- "I will not" but AFTER A CHANGE OF MIND/HEART he went. Fear of our Father (God) changes our own desires and breaks through our stubbornness. Perhaps fear of his father or whats to come changed that sons mind. I end with this- Ive learned that the fear of the LORD- is to respect the LORD- which is to love the LORD- which draws us near to God. Why else would Jesus declare this as the "most important commandment?"