“Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning.”
Exodus 20:20 (NLT)
This verse stopped me because it made me ask a very practical question.
What does that even look like today?
The scene in Exodus is dramatic. Thunder. Lightning. Smoke. A shaking mountain. It makes sense that fear would follow. But most of us do not experience God like that. We do not stand at the base of a trembling mountain. We do not hear His voice from the clouds.
So what does the fear of God look like now?
And more importantly, does it actually keep us from sinning?
That question stopped me.
Because if I am honest, a lot of what we call the fear of the Lord today feels muted. Comfortable. Safe. It rarely disrupts us. It rarely confronts us. It rarely costs us anything.
We talk about grace, forgiveness, and love, all of which are true and good. But somewhere along the way, reverence has quietly slipped out the side door.
The fear Moses is talking about is not panic. It is not dread. It is not fear of punishment. It is the kind of awe that makes you pause before you speak. The kind of awareness that makes you stop before you cross a line.
It is knowing God is holy. Not manageable. Not casual. Not impressed by our excuses.
I wonder if the reason sin feels so easy today is not because temptation is stronger, but because reverence is weaker.
If we truly believed God was present in the moment of decision, would it change what we say? What we watch? What we justify? What we hide?
The fear of God today might not look like a shaking mountain, but it might look like a holy pause. A moment where you remember who you are standing before.
Not fear that pushes you away, but fear that pulls you back into alignment.
This verse reminded me that God never intended fear to paralyze us. He intended it to guard us. To keep us from drifting into things that slowly harden our hearts.
So maybe the question is not whether the fear of God still exists, but whether we have made room for it.