6月2日

標　　題：畏懼主

經　　節：我們既知道主是可畏的，所以勸人。但我們在神面前是顯明的，盼望在你們的良心裡也是顯明的。（哥林多後書五章11節）

畏懼神最能遏止人犯罪（出埃及記二十：20；箴言十六：6）。那些把神當作仁慈溫和的老祖父的人，對罪的看法很膚淺。他們冷冷淡淡地敬拜神，任憑自己的喜好而行，不照著神的心意而行。而敬畏神，會出人想像地改變個人的生命。即使保羅身為耶穌基督的門徒，他敬畏神，並且知道有一天，他將要站在審判台前，為自己的所作所為交帳（哥林多後書五：10）。

我們的世界並不鼓勵畏懼。我們教導孩子愛神，但是不用畏懼神。我們向未信者傳福音時，為了讓基督教更吸引他們，我們以仁慈和不可懼來描述神的形像。我們這時代最大的審判，可能是我們自己失去敬畏神的心。我們向人傳述祂是我們「最好的朋友」，祂拯救我們，且「住在我們的心裡」，可是我們不畏懼祂。我們是神的兒女、神的後嗣，甚至是耶穌的朋友（羅馬書八：16∼17；約翰福音十五：14∼15），但我們與神並不同等。祂已經赦免我們，而我們仍是祂手所造之物。祂是神，我們不是。

倘若你對神的命令安心自得，對自己的罪無所謂，你已經與神的聖潔隔絕了。花時間默想神可畏的聖潔，並允許聖靈逐漸地教導我們，在生活中合宜地敬畏這位全能神（以賽亞書四十：12∼26）。深深地敬畏神是不可缺的。

The Terror of the Lord

Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:11)

The fear of God is the greatest deterrent for sin (Exod. 20:20; Prov. 16:6). Those who perceive God as a benevolent and gentle grandfather will treat their sin superficially. They will worship halfheartedly. They will live life on their own terms rather than God's. But a reverent fear of holy God will dramatically affect the way a person lives. Even though Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ, he feared God and knew that one day he would stand in judgment to give an account for everything he had done (2 Cor. 5:10).

Our world does not applaud fearfulness. We teach our children to love God, but not to fear Him. We want to present a loving and nonthreatening image of God to nonbelievers in the hope that Christianity will be more appealing to them. One of the great condemnations of our day may be that we have lost the fear of God. We promote Him as a "best friend" who saves us and "lives in our hearts," but we do not fear Him. It is true that we are God's adopted children and that we are fellow heirs, even friends, with Jesus (Rom. 8:16–17; John 15:14–15), but we are not His equals. He has forgiven us, but we are still His creatures. He is God, and we are not!

If you find that you have become complacent with God's commands and have become comfortable in your sin, you are completely isolated from God's holiness. Take time to meditate upon the awesome holiness of God and allow the Holy Spirit to instill into your life a proper reverence for almighty God (Isa. 40:12–26). A deep sense of awe is essential to knowing God.