Job 28:28

And he said to the human race, 'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding

When we hear the word fear, we think of being frightened or scared of someone, but this word fear, 'Yir'at' יִרְאַת in Hebrew, which means: "a profound sense of awe, worshipful respect, and humble submission to God's authority and majesty."  It is this picture of having such a good dad that you never want to disappoint him or let him down, and so you are careful with your actions that they would honor him, please him.   The second part of this verse to shun evil, it is not just a thought or a statement but a wholehearted action to turn from evil, to keep yourself from it.

This fear of the Lord, or Holy reverence, is the action in our verse today.   That we would have a thinking shift, that we would begin to have this Holy Reverence for God that would affect our decisions, what we say, what we do, where we allow our feet to take us and that we would serve God out of this reverence.

Lord, help us to love and respect you this way, with holy reverence, that we would not want to disappoint you in any way, that we hate was is evil, turn from what we should have no part of, that our lives would be transformed by this devotion, this daily decision to please and honor you, in Jesus' name, Amen!