The Most Frequent Command In The Bible
Matthew Pryor BodyTithe.com
". . . Do not be afraid . . ."
When you think through the "do's and don'ts"
of the Bible,
I'm guessing one or more of the following come to mind:
· Do not lie
· Do not steal
· Love your enemies
· Do not murder
· Do unto others as you'd have them do to you
· Love your neighbor as yourself
And certainly none of them come close to the repetition of
the most popular command in the Bible. You ready? Drumroll...
"Do
not be afraid."
That's right, "do not be afraid" appears in the New International Version 70 times.
This does not include variants such as "fear not," "do not fear," and the like.
There are several interesting things about this.
- First of all, the Bible is not saying, "There is nothing scary so you don't
need to be scared." Let's be real... life is scary. That, however, does NOT mean we need to be
scared of it.
- Secondly, the command "do not be afraid" more often than not, is followed by an
action that God is or will be taking. Here are a few such examples:
· “Do
not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring
you today." (Exodus 14:13)
· “Do
not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you." (Deuteronomy 3:22)
· “Do not be afraid of
them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to
withstand you." (Joshua 10:8)
· "Do
not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you
the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)
Another interesting thing is that 10 times "do not be afraid" is followed by "do not be discouraged."
Have you stopped to
consider that being afraid and being discouraged are related?
After all, the opposite of "discouraged"
is "encouraged." And encouraged means to be filled with
courage!
Why should we be
filled with courage? Because as Christians, the Lord is with us and in us. And He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
Finally, notice that "do not be
afraid" is not a suggestion.
God does not say, "If
you don't want to be afraid, that's an option. Either way. Be afraid or don't.
It's up to you."
No, it is a command.
He is giving an instruction on how to approach the circumstance.
By default,
approaching it in a different manner would be a form of disobedience.
As a personal
trainer, I talk to a lot of people who are discouraged about their fitness. I
can understand.
Fitness can be hard.
It can be frustrating. It can even be a little bit scary.
This
is partly why I gave the subtitle "Spiritual Encouragement for Your
Fitness Journey" to my first book, The Body Tithe Devotional.
I
want people to approach their fitness from a place of confidence and boldness
in spite of how daunting the journey might be.
I
also know that people get discouraged, not just in fitness, but in life,
because they rely too much on their own strength rather than the supernatural
power of the Holy Spirit. We act out of impulse rather than
allowing God to work in the situation.
Or we
go to the other extreme, masking our fear by overanalyzing, waiting for that elusive "perfect time" to
start doing X, rather than just doing it.
With so many
frightening situations constantly popping up in our lives, I don't think it's
any coincidence that God has given this command so many times throughout
scripture.
We need to be
reminded time and time again.
We need to hear it over and over.
We need it pounded into our hearts and minds.
My challenge to you is to start believing it.
After all, if God is for us, who can be against us?
In this spiritual war, there are no fence-sitters – you are
either on the Lords’ victorious army or on the wicked “Powers” of Satan.
Ensure you are enlisted with the victorious army of the
Lord. Settle that sin issue right now by saying this prayer:
I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my past sinful
life and live a new life pleasing to You.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was
resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in
my heart from this day forward.
Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your
will for the rest of my life. Thank you, Lord, that according to Your Word, I
am born again. I promise to obey You and study your Word – the Bible.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
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lyrics
CHORUS:Be strong and take courage
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the Lord will go before you
And His light will show the way
.
Be strong and take courage
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the one who lives within you
Will be strong in you today
Do not fear or be dismayed
For the one who lives within you
Will be strong in you today
.
Why don't you give him all of your fears
Why don't you let him wipe all of your tears
He knows, He's been through pain before
And He knows all that you've been looking for
Why don't you let him wipe all of your tears
He knows, He's been through pain before
And He knows all that you've been looking for
.
Nothing can take you out of his hand
Nothing can face you that you can't command
I know that you will always be
In His love, in His power you will be free
Nothing can face you that you can't command
I know that you will always be
In His love, in His power you will be free
Matthew Pryor is
the author of ”The Body Tithe Devotional: Spiritual Encouragement
for Your Fitness Journey." He is also a personal
trainer and the founder of the Christian fitness site Body Tithe University (BTU).
BTU specializes in helping Christians get fit with one objective in mind: live
more so you can give more.
http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/the-most-frequent-command-in-the-bible.html
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