Seven Dollars and Ninety Cents
From the “It’s Only Funny If You Do the Math” files.
The Men’s Bible Study came across the phrase “fear not” this past week. To emphasize value of those words, Pastor remarked, “If I had a nickel for every time ‘fear not’ is used in the Bible…” The discussion continued, however, I had to do the math!
The line “If I had an ‘x’ (nickel, dime, dollar, etc.) for every ‘y'” implies that “y” happens so often that one would become wealthy because of its frequent reoccurrence. “Fear not” occurs 158 times in the ESV translation of the Bible.
Whether “fear not” is spoken by a prophet, a psalmist, an apostle, an angel, or the LORD himself, there is a call to stop, reflect, and reevaluate the current situation and know that our God is in control. This is generally not an easy thing to do; hence the constant reminder to “fear not.” St Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV) “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” When we harness this spirit and let loose the fear, we can be confident and say with the psalmist, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6 ESV)
Jesus concludes the parable of “The Dishonest Manager” with these words:
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2016&version=ESV>
In our context here: when, in our little faith, we remember to “fear not”, He is faithful. His faithfulness is the true riches given to us because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. His faithfulness occurs so frequently, the wealth it generates is worth more than $7.90! Fear not!
Trust the Promises,
Steve Skiver