Revere the Lord – Luke 19 Encouragement

Greetings,

     “I was afraid of you because you are an exacting (hard; tough; severe; harsh; austere) man;” (Luke 19:21) This is from a parable of a master who gave money to his servants for them to do business with while He was away. One did not use it because, as I quoted above, he was afraid.

     If we’re supposed to understand the master as Jesus and the servants as us, and I think we are, then it is easy to see that the reason the servant didn’t obey the master was because he didn’t know Him. He didn’t know the trust, Love and freedom the master was offering the servant.

     The servant saw the master as harsh and severe – sometimes ‘not politically correct’ Love-in-Truth, comes across like that. But the master, Jesus, is the One who had just eaten a meal with a sinning chief tax collector because “the Son of Man [Jesus] has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) That’s the pure Love of God.

     Just like the servant in the parable, I believe those who reject the Lord do so because they don’t know Him as He really is. How about you? Do you believe He is hard and harsh if you aren’t performing well for Him? Actually, He is the one who came to give up His life so that you might come Alive.

     There are two definitions to the word fear: 1) to be afraid, and 2) to revere; to stand in awe of.  Absolutely, fear the Lord (see the picture above) – stand in awe of; revere the One who totally Loves you and has plans for nothing but Good, Abundant Life for you.

     So, here’s the Encouragement: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38)

God bless,

Dave