July 28

Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always,
   but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor
   than he who flatters with his tongue.
Proverbs 28:14,23 ESV

To fear the LORD is to know He is in charge of your life. To fear the LORD is to decide--over and over again each day (and sometimes each hour, or each minutes)--to submit yourself to His rule in all things.

When someone takes the time and effort to correct you and by such words to save you from wrong-doing you know this person fears the LORD and has your best interest in heart.

When we are engaged in doing something we know is wrong, how often don't we harden our hearts against others? It is easy to rehearse pithy responses against others to keep them from getting close enough to speak the words of rebuke you need to hear. Once we begin to harden our hearts against someone we become, as the Proverbs say, unyielding as a fortified city. We are not just hardening our hearts against others, we are denying the fear of the LORD and hardening our hearts against our own conscience, but most importantly, we are hardening ourselves against our Father.

But the way of wisdom is to yield one's heart to the searching work of the Spirit. The way of wisdom is to go the throne of Jesus Christ and pray for the heart of stone to be removed and to be given a heart of flesh that will respond to the concerns of those around us. Weigh and evaluate what someone says. Even when someone is mostly wrong in their evaluation there is a grain of truth in what is said and a bushel of compassion in braving another's person's anger in order to speak life and correction.

Father in heaven it is an awesome thing that in Christ You take sinful men and women to be your sons and daughters. It is extravagant love that moves in mercy for us, so that while we were yet sinners, Christ's death sets us free from condemnation. Holy Father and Just Judge Jesus, pour out the Spirit so that whatever areas of our hearts have become hardened will be softened and prepared for the rebukes and corrections that will lead to greater holiness. Spirit of God, when You direct us to coach another person in the fear of the LORD, grant us to be gentle but firm in showing such love. Thank You for the blessing of community which sharpens, corrects, encourages and bears each others burdens so that together we grow in maturity as the family of God. Amen.