Nehemiah 5:15 (ESV): “The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.”
AW Tozer once said, “When men no longer fear God, they transgress His law without hesitation. The fear of consequences is no deterrent when the fear of God is gone.” Thus, it is the fear of God that keeps the man of God in the will of God!
When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he found it in disarray. The walls were broken down, and the people were floundering. He organized the rebuilding of the walls and put an end to the oppression of the poor; for brothers were exacting interest from brothers. He assembled the people and instructed them to abandon this practice. As governor of Jerusalem, he didn’t use his position to lord it over the people. He didn’t take the portions allotted to the governor as the previous ones had, for he feared God!
Do you fear God? You can tell by how you walk and treat others. God is worthy to be feared. If you lack the proper fear of God, it is because you lack a proper view of God. Ask God to reveal Himself to you daily, and you will grow in your fear of Him. It is the fear of God that causes this world to grow strangely dim. Seek Him, grow in your understanding of Him, and you will fear Him properly, amen?
Father, we thank You for never changing. You are the same God yesterday, today, and forever. You deserve to be feared. Grow us in our fear of You, we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.
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