Hello, everyone.
My apologies for the length of time between posts.  I've finished Genesis and am now into Exodus, particularly at the point when God passes judgment upon the nation of Egypt.  I found reflecting on the episode with commentary from the Apostle Peter very thought-provoking and a little sobering.  Trying to put into words my thoughts on what it means to "fear" the Lord was difficult, so please forgive me if they seem awkward.  Hopefully this post, like the others, will encourage you to prayerfully study and consider the Scriptures.
-Dan Vellinga 

Exodus 12:1-51 (New King James Version of the Bible) 
¹  Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
²  "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
³  Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.

⁴  And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb.
⁵  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

Compare this with the Apostle Peter's commentary on the event: (1 Peter 1:18-19)  “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Note:  According to the International Critical Commentary, the "aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers" is not necessarily the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, but any number of lifestyles and philosophies, pagan or nonreligious, that served as a substitute for Christ.  An argument against the traditions being the Old Testament sacrificial system is that it was not aimless or vain, but covered the sins of the people and pointed to and was fulfilled by Christ Jesus.  The point is, perhaps, that how we lived our lives before we submitted ourselves to the Lord Jesus was aimless and vain.  There is no point to life, if life is lived without Christ.

One common feature of my (and other's) "tradition" is that I didn't really need redemption.  I was fine, was good enough, was not trapped in sin, was not in danger of judgment.  All lies.  I was not fine, not good enough, was trapped in sin, and was in danger of judgment and separation from a just and holy God.  It may not be as dramatic is it was for those slaves, whose forebears had been slaves for centuries, but I was redeemed from slavery just the same. 

Now, knowing that the Father impartially judges according to my work, I need to conduct my stay on this earth in fear, a reverence for God to whom I am accountable.  The world is like Egypt of old, that entices and enslaves and is at enmity against all who would seek freedom.  Perhaps living in this kind of fear is living with the realization that I no longer fit in this world, am at odds with it and it with me; and that I cannot follow Christ and fit into this world.  I should expect to be controversial sometimes, and that some people will not like me, and that they don't understand when I don't pursue what they deem worthy of avid pursuit.  It is a dying world, and dying world system and it is in denial about its condition.  Living in fear and reverence for the Father does not fit the mentality of this world system.  I need to be more concerned about what the Father thinks than what the world thinks.