EXOD492 What are the signs of love of God to be found in one who loves [Him]? ... A further [sign] is that traces of his fear of God and profound dread of Him are apparent on his facial expression, as it is written: “So that His fear be on your faces, and you not sin” (Shemos 20:17). Fear [of God] is of two kinds. One of these is fear of His punishments and trials. One fears God, in this case, because He can cause him pain and suffering. If, however, he were immune to suffering, he would not fear God. Of such individuals our Masters, of blessed memory, said: “We should be wary, lest we come to observe [the commandments] out of fear” (Megillah 25b). Such an individual falls short of the degree attained by the [truly] God- fearing and is the embodiment of what our Masters, of blessed memory, warned against: “Be not like servants who serve the master on condition of receiving a reward” (Avos 1:3). One of the pious said, “I would be ashamed before God to serve Him because of reward and punishment. I would then be like a bad servant who, if he fears punishment or expects reward, will perform, but who otherwise will not perform. I will, rather, serve Him because He is worthy of this.” The second [kind of fear of God] is awe, inspired by His magnitude, exaltedness, and awesome power. [This awe] never leaves a person or parts from him all the days of his life. This is the highest of the degrees of the God-fearing to whom the Scriptures attribute yirah (awe). It is the gateway to pure love and intense yearning. One who reaches this degree of fear of God will not fear or be afraid of anything but the Creator, as one of the pious told of a God-fearing man whom he found asleep in a desert. He asked the man, “Are you not afraid of lions? How can you sleep in such a place!” The man replied, “I would be ashamed before God if He were to see that I was afraid of anything besides Him.”