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A gift from the Lord
Ken SilvaIsaiah 11:1-3
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear.
As I was reading this scripture and then going deeper into various commentaries, I saw that the seven gifts; Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord, are mentioned throughout the Bible. The scripture above refers to six of them.If someone I came across something from St. Thomas Aquinas speaking about the gifts. He says that the gift of Fear of the Lord is the foundation upon which all the other gifts are built. Fear of the Lord is our unconditional reverence to God. It is our heart fully devoted to him. St. Thomas goes on to say that before people can do good, they must withdraw from evil. Our natural tendency is to withdraw or move away from things that are not good for us.
When I think about the gift of Fear of the Lord, it can be interpretted in a number of ways. The most obvious would be the fear of punishment or retribution. If someone broke a rule, policy or law they would face the consequences of their actions. This interpretation is black and white, pretty much cut and dried. Lacking of emotion and without the possibility of grace. My son and I were discussing this topic recently and I explained it more in the context of the relationship between a father and son. I believe Fear of the Lord is more about being in a loving, positive relationship with the Lord. I do the things I do because of the respect, love and adoration I have for the Father. My desire is to walk closely with the Father, to resist the pull of sin and the separation it causes. The desire for a loving relationship with God is not a heavy burden.
Dear Lord my prayer is to continue in a loving relationship with you. For all that you do and have done in my life I thank you. I am a sinner but you allow me to be refreshed everyday. Please continue to live in my life and allow me to partner with you in ministry. Amen.
