"Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." Isaiah 8:13

Here is another scripture that is not a suggestion but a three-fold command to sanctify, fear and hold the Lord in dreadful awe. The Amplified Bible says this: "The Lord of hosts, regard Him as holy and honor His holy name (by regarding Him as your only hope of safety), and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread (lest you offend Him by your fear of man and distrust of Him)."

This verse, when seen in light of the terrible price Messiah paid for my sins, causes me, as the old song says, to "tremble, tremble, tremble!" We are to set apart the Lord alone - no substitutes for Him or additions to Him. A total relationship! He alone is to be our fear lest He lose that place in our hearts reserved only for God and we transfer that reservation to idols. A total reverence! He is to be held in awe-inspiring dread lest we fall into the trap of believing that God only cries over our disobedi­ence rather than the truth that He often must crush it! A total regard! A poem I wrote leaves me no room for excuses:

"Why did He die for me? Why did He die for me?

It had to be love, That's found only above;

For Jesus to die for me.

I can't understand, The whole thing's too grand,

The Creator came down from above;

To woo and to win this creature of sin,

Quite simply, it just had to be love.

The King on a cross, what a terrible cost,

With a heart that was bursting with love;

Forsaken, accursed, what more could be worse?

Can't you see, it just had to be love!"

Jesus sanctified Himself - set aside His glory - to die for you and me. Now ours is the privilege to appreciate that sacrifice by setting our Lord apart from all lesser loves and being living sacrifices for Him.

My prayer: “I willingly submit to your Lordship alone, my Jesus. Grant me grace to hold You in reverential fear and awe-inspiring dread.”

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
The ST. PAUL SCHOOL, with Frank Eiklor, Eileen Young and Cecilia Contreras