Serving to God is
another component of Fear of the Lord. This
and the following posts will consider this aspect of fearing the Lord.
The connection between service and Fear of the Lord usually arises in the Old Testament in a way suggesting that active
service is a prophylactic that keeps us from things that would get between us and
God, or as an antidote for things that have already done that. Deuteronomy 6:13 identifies focused
service as a way to avoid materialism and pride, two things that will indeed
interfere with our relationship to God. Deuteronomy 13:4 tells us that service
is a way to avoid being mislead by false prophets, another
thing that can separate us from God. Psalm 34:11 & 14 tell us, in slightly different language, that it will keep
us from deceit. Deuteronomy
10:12-13, Deuteronomy 10:20, 1 Samuel 12:14, and 1 Samuel 12:24 identify service
as a way to be reconciled after we have sinned.
Those same dynamics carry over into the New Testament,
albeit with little express reference to “Fear of the Lord.” In Matthew 4:10 Jesus invokes Deuteronomy 6:13’s command
to serve God in response to Satan’s temptation to material gain. Luke 12:35-38 and 1 Peter 4:10 teach that
focusing on the service that God has placed immediately before us is a way to
deal with anxiety about the future. Matthew 20:28 and Galatians 5:13 identify service to others as an antidote to pride,
jealousy, and the dissention that usually follow those vices.
So what exactly is this "service"? The Hebrew words used in
the Old Testament passages mean “to labour, work, do work,” “to do or make ... accomplish ... bring forth,” “to work for another,” and “to make oneself a servant.” The Greek words used in the New Testament
passages were understood to mean “to be a servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, to wait
upon,” “to attend to anything that may serve another's interests,” to “to be a slave,
serve, to do service.”
In essence, the concept means actively
working to advance God’s mission, exerting
focused effort to make His “kingdom come and [His] will be done.”
What guidance does
scripture give us on the specifics of doing that? We’ll discuss that in the next post.
