Devotionals

Do You Worship Man or God?

by Michael Edwards 
12/01/21
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The fear of man warned of in the Bible is being more concerned with pleasing man than God. It’s living a stress-filled life, trying to satisfy the crowd instead of the one voice of the coach. It leads us to entertain man with our words and actions, even if they are not what God wants. The fear of man boils down to what are they going to think instead of what will God think? 

The fear of man prevents us from speaking openly about our trust in Jesus and sharing our faith so others can believe and be saved. It even stops us from praying openly for others in their time of need. It is like putting a lamp under a basket instead of on the table to light up the room. The fear of man is the foundation for the lie that sharing the gospel truth is unloving if it makes others feel uncomfortable. The fear of man is in direct opposition to the fear of God. 

But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared. Psalm 130:4 BSB

While some debate the fear of God, Jesus clearly defines it when He quotes Deuteronomy 6:13, replacing fear with worship. 

Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only… Deut 6:13a BSB

But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ ” Luke 4:8 BSB

Jesus reveals the fear of God is the worship of God. This undeniably exposes another truth, the fear of man is worshipping man. Only our enemy wants us to worship man because he knows we will serve who we worship. 

Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety. Prov 29:25 NLT

Be honest with yourself; who do you try and please more, man or God? If man, you have fallen into the trap of worshipping and serving man over God. 

Dear Lord, please forgive me and help me to overcome my fear of man, to always worship and serve you alone. Amen

Want inspiration to overcome the fear of man, watch this 5 minute video of a famous atheist visibly impacted after being offered a Gideon Bible—the Holy Spirit working on him and us. He did not come to Christ and as of the last check he still has not, but that's not the point in this message. It is more about us as believers offering other life if they accept it or not. We cannot make them but we need to offer the gospel. That is real love. And we need to use words, they are necessary. They cannot believe if they do not hear states, Paul. 

Many more New Covenant Bible Studies HERE. Jesus poured out His blood for the New Covenant of grace and truth, replacing the Old Covenant law of Moses. Believers are exclusively under the New Covenant, the last will and testament of Jesus that began after the cross. 

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.” Luke 22:20