8 O'clock

What could be special about 8 O’clock? After all it’s only another hour that has ticked by twice during the day. It does occur to me that 8 O’clock in the evening is not really 8 O’clock. If we talk about time in terms of twenty four hours – 8 o’c

lock is twenty hours into the day.

This got me thinking about what words we use that have two meanings. The first one that came to mind is the word “fear”. We are told in Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” And yet in Proverbs 9:10 we are told “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”

In the first verse we are told not to be scared of what is happening around us. Some people have been told to be afraid of a judgemental God. If we do something wrong He will strike us with lightening but this is not the sort of God we have. We have a loving God but a God who is just or fair. While we are here on earth He will reach out to us and forgive us when we ask Him. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12.

The other verse that tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom refers to being so amazed at what God can do, that we just stand there and watch His wonderful plan unfold.

This is of course not a literal thing, otherwise we would get nothing done, but like me I am sure that sometimes you just cannot help but be staggered by what our God does.