9th. December. 2020. Daily Devotion.
33 Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honour. Proverbs 15:33
The Scriptures are consistent in advising that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, yet the Apostle John tells us that “God is love,” and that “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:8,18). “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are” (1 John 3:1).
What then should the fear of the Lord involve?
Perhaps a better word is “reverence” “We should daily remind ourselves of who He really is, the Creator of the hundreds of billions of galaxies; the sovereign God who inhabits the future as well as the present and the past; the almighty One who dwells in all places, and from whom no thought is hidden; clothed in power, glory, and dominion, He reigns over the cosmos in the beauty of holiness.”
Humility should flow from this: The person who is wise lives in dependence and radical trust in the Author and Giver of life. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We will grow in wisdom as we daily cultivate the attitude of awe and humility in our walk with God. Adapted from K. Boa.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
Lord, let me always place humility before honour, out of respect and love for You. Amen.
O God, you make us glad with the yearly expectation of the birthday of Christ,
your only Son. Grant that we, who hail him with joy as our Redeemer, may also behold him without fear when he comes to be our Judge, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Peace
We thank you, Master and Lover of mankind, King of the ages and giver of all good things, for destroying the dividing wall of enmity and granting peace to those who seek your mercy. We appeal to you to awaken the longing for a peaceful life in all those who are filled with hatred for their neighbours, thinking especially of those at war or preparing for war.
Give peace to your servants. Implant in them the fear of you and confirm in them love one for another. Extinguish every dispute and banish all temptations to disagreement. For you are our peace and to you we ascribe glory: to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto ages of ages.
We pray, Lord our God, for all those who suffer from acts of war. I pray for your peace and your mercy in the midst of the great suffering that people are now inflicting on each other. Accept the prayers of your Church, that by your goodness peace may return to all peoples. Hear us and have mercy on us. Amen
Lord, we pray for those who need ongoing medical treatment who are forced to wait at this time.
God, please watch over their health and help them to stay positive and patient. Be with all vulnerable people who await the opportunity to receive vaccination.
We pray that we shall overcome this global crisis and that after this pandemic, we may build a more just and humane world. Amen.
