The Fear Of The Lord, part five

Ps 103:11, 17

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him…
…from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children…

I’ve noticed that some families share the same sense of humor or the same cooking skills or the same ability to sing. It’s given from one generation to the other through a long line of descendants. Have you seen a kind person and then met that person’s parent who’s also very kind? Kindness probably was a family tradition for them.

People who acknowledge God as their Heavenly Father can come together as brothers and sisters in a very large family. None of us is the same, yet we all possess the same family trait: the fear of the Lord.

Since we, as God’s children, fear or revere or have high respect for him, we can see how God pours his love on us throughout the generations. We tune our senses to notice him in our lives. We can see his family receiving the love of a father in so many situations. We see him as Protector, Healer, and Guide. He cares about us because we are his family.

But our limited minds can’t conceive of the greatness of his love. So we use words that mean “really big”. The psalmist tries to give us a picture of God’s big love for us, “for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love.”

Growing up in the comfort of a loving family will probably flow down through the generations beyond my children. I’ve seen my older relatives showing signs that they have felt loved by their parents too. It reminds me of the book I used to read to my children before bedtime. Guess How Much I Love You has stuck in my daughter’s mind so that to this day she still competes with me about how big our love is for each other.

I imagine God listening to our fun competition and answering each of us with his own, “I love you more.”