Acts 9:31  Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

Have you ever lived anywhere where the drinking water was too unpleasant to drink?  In such situations a couple of alternatives are available.  One is to get bottled water and many people do that.  The other is to get a good water filter system that removes all the unpleasantness from the water.  Think about traveling overseas and the issue of whether it is wise or safe to drink the water?  There’s a lot more to it than just the taste and smell of the water.  Water that might seem fine can be a disaster to drink, that’s why it pays to be careful.

There are other water issues to be concerned about depending upon where you live and the water source.  Suppose you have the water tested and discover that there is ‘stuff’ in the unfiltered water that can and will hurt you.  But the good news is the testing also confirms that a quality water filter system removes those negatives; making the water safe to drink.  It’s just a matter of maintaining the filter system.

In this situation, with the filter system, the water is safe to drink.  Without the filter system, there are negatives in the water that will hurt us even if there is no bad taste or smell.  Water is important and it pays to be careful.  With this in mind, it’s important that we recognize that the fear of the Lord is a vital component of our spiritual filtering system.  There is a lot of deadly stuff out there in our culture that doesn’t ‘taste’ or ‘smell’ bad.  But it’s stuff that can kill and destroy.

We must also remember that we play a key role in our spiritual filtering system.  We have to pay attention to it and provide it with God’s Word so that it is fully operational.  We have to care! There is a very key verse in Numbers 32:23 that is a Biblical principle that we tend to forget but it’s still there: “your sin will find you out”.

That begs the question: “What is sin?” and the answer to that leads to specifics in every area and aspect of our lives.  Fortunately, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life in the motivational aspect of our lives in this realm.  It is life producing and the more we respond to it the more it protects us from things we must avoid.

Reread today’s verse.  The fear of the Lord was what they lived in.  It is healthy and positive and vital to our life in Christ Jesus.  We are to live in it too.