The way to live

“Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.” Acts 9:31
Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7, 9:10). This does not mean that we should have a phobia of God, but that we ought to hold Him in reverence and great respect. The more we understand just how great God is, the more we will respect Him.
The only way to live is in the fear of the Lord. This is what the early church discovered, and it’s something that the church today would do well to learn. We often hear people talking about God as their buddy and Jesus as their best mate, but all these flippant types of remarks show is an immaturity in their spiritual walk. The early church, with its healthy fear of God, saw many miraculous signs and multitudes of people come to salvation. Consider what happened to Ananias and Sapphira when they treated the things of God too lightly (Acts 5). What a spiritually powerful thing this must be, when the whole community of believers lives in a way where God is feared. There would be no place for living in sin, either overtly or covertly. There would be respect for all people as being made in God’s image. There would be no personal agendas or one-up-man-ship. There would be no place for gossip, backbiting, spreading rumours, rude jokes, bad language, etc. And when we rid these things from our lives collectively, this is when the Holy Spirit can do His work through and among us.