Fear Conformity

(Proverbs 14:16 KJV)  A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

The KJV is more accurate here.  It has “feareth” instead of the NASB’s “cautious” (3372a).  The word is used hundreds of times and the most common translation is a form of “fear”.  This is the only place the NASB uses “cautious”.  Go figure.

Notice though that fear is not a lack of courage or commitment.  It is a matter of wisdom and moral strength.  Usually the “evil” (7451b) way is the easy way, the common way, the way everyone else is going.  Often evil involves nothing more than conforming to the crowd.  There is a lost of pressure today for us to conform to evil on issues like homosexuality, fornication, drugs, abortion and the list goes on.  We are being silenced in the public square.

So?  Wisdom knows the right and follows it in spite of the consequences and pressures.  I am still not as strong as I would like but I expect to continue to make progress.