READ: Eph. 5:1-21
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. – 1 Pet. 1:17
It is a great privilege to call upon God as our Father in heaven But God does place demands on that privilege. It must be truly meant when you call Him Father. The Lord watches as a Father to see if you truly love Him with all your heart, if you look up to Him with reverence and follow Him by walking in His ways. This is walking in the “fear of the Lord,” in “godliness.”
The fear of the Lord does not mean being afraid of God the Father, but it does mean loving Him with reverence and awe. You know that you are completely dependent on Him as your Creator. He is also your loving Father for the sake of Christ. He gives you everything out of grace, showing His fatherly love.
But He also wants us, as His children, to respond to His love in a life that is fitting for Him. This involves living as strangers in a God-hating world, being devoted to Him and living holy lives according to His commandments. It involves acknowledging the need for the forgiveness of sins.
God the Father not only listens to our prayers. He also knows us inside and out. He judges and He watches to see if we continue to behave as strangers. He does so impartially. This also means that He cannot be deceived by a show of godliness. If you call on Him as Father in your prayers, your heart and life must also be focused on Him. Then you will want to put away what does not fit with Him. If you then discover sin within yourself, sincerely ask for forgiveness through the blood of Christ. That too, God will notice; that too is pleasing to Him.
Should you be afraid of God’s judgment?
Singing: Ps. 139:13