Eternal Trigger Warning

(Proverbs 14:27 KJV)  The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

“Fear” (3374) is one of those words or concepts that reminds us of the vast schism between the Bible and the world.  We tend to get comfortable because we still have a lot of Christian values in our culture.  They are fading but most of us are still immune from the depravity of paganism.  Fear, or awe and reverence, is shunned by the world around us.  We have schools establishing safe spaces and demanding trigger warnings to keep the sheltered souls in their care from feeling any mental or psychological discomfort.  We think the government and its programs can make life rainbows and cotton candy. 

The Bible teaches that a healthy fear is healthy.  The fear that we have of God is balanced.  On one side you have the consuming fire of a holy God.  That can get us to trembling if we are honest.  The God of the Bible should be an eternal trigger warning.  There is no safe space.  On the other side is the God who is love, who sent Jesus to die for our sins and make us part of the family of God.  But in that comfort is the fact that it is an Old Testament, patriarchal family, not a modern open family.

So?  Your comfort is hollow if it is not grounded in both the holiness of God and the love of God.  You are not on an arcade roller coaster.  You are on the Highway of Holiness.