My outreach to motorcycle riders
by Jim Bright
Several places in the Bible there is reference to “fear the Lord”. Seldom is it “fear and trembling”, though on occasion it is, for God is an awesome God!
But usually, I believe, it refers to a deep, abiding respect for God. For God is a loving God and he wants and expects a close, loving relationship with us, not fear and trembling. For as it says in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...”. Can we can truly grasp the meaning of this, God's unconditional love for us. I believe we can, if we have a deep, abiding respect-fear of the Lord.
How does that relate to “fear our Harley”? If we had “fear and trembling” of our Harley, we could never enjoy riding it. But we need to fear our Harley-a deep abiding respect for it. For if we don't we will be at risk of losing our focus, taking it for granted. And if we do there is a much greater chance we will put
it down, and we all know that wouldn't be in our best interest!
It is the same with God. Without a deep, abiding respect for Him, we will loose our focus and let the everyday temptations rule our lives through disobedience; far from our best interest, and what God wants for us.
Through a deep, abiding respect for God the Father, we can better understand God's grace. His undeserved goodness toward us-His unconditional love for us. If we can truly grasp this we will want to return that love through obedience. Which will bring us into a close, loving relationship with God-the Good Life.
But often in our relationship with God we become distracted and less focused, thus less obedient. And loose that deep, abiding respect. The outcome as with the Harley will not be good.
So in order to have the good life which God wants us to have, we need to “Fear the Lord as we fear our Harley!”
PS: What brings us to that relationship with God the Father is what Christ has done for us-washed us of our sins with His blood, on the cross!
by Jim Bright
Several places in the Bible there is reference to “fear the Lord”. Seldom is it “fear and trembling”, though on occasion it is, for God is an awesome God!
But usually, I believe, it refers to a deep, abiding respect for God. For God is a loving God and he wants and expects a close, loving relationship with us, not fear and trembling. For as it says in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...”. Can we can truly grasp the meaning of this, God's unconditional love for us. I believe we can, if we have a deep, abiding respect-fear of the Lord.
How does that relate to “fear our Harley”? If we had “fear and trembling” of our Harley, we could never enjoy riding it. But we need to fear our Harley-a deep abiding respect for it. For if we don't we will be at risk of losing our focus, taking it for granted. And if we do there is a much greater chance we will put
it down, and we all know that wouldn't be in our best interest!
It is the same with God. Without a deep, abiding respect for Him, we will loose our focus and let the everyday temptations rule our lives through disobedience; far from our best interest, and what God wants for us.
Through a deep, abiding respect for God the Father, we can better understand God's grace. His undeserved goodness toward us-His unconditional love for us. If we can truly grasp this we will want to return that love through obedience. Which will bring us into a close, loving relationship with God-the Good Life.
But often in our relationship with God we become distracted and less focused, thus less obedient. And loose that deep, abiding respect. The outcome as with the Harley will not be good.
So in order to have the good life which God wants us to have, we need to “Fear the Lord as we fear our Harley!”
PS: What brings us to that relationship with God the Father is what Christ has done for us-washed us of our sins with His blood, on the cross!