May 4, 2022
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“The Beginning of Knowledge~ The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.“
Proverbs 1:1-7
Fear.
I, personally am not big on fear. Are you?
I am not one to watch scary movies or go to haunted houses, yet we are asked in the Bible to fear the Lord?
Have you ever really thought about what it means to fear the Lord and are you living up to the challenge?
Today’s question:
What does it mean to fear the Lord and find His wisdom? In today’s Wisdom Wednesday.
In this post…
In school, my daughter it currently memorizing Proverbs 1:1-7. I admit I did not memorize any bible verses as a kid, so I have taken this on as a challenge for myself as well. Do you know how hard it is to memorize as an adult? I have spent so much more time reviewing and rereading than getting the words out in a memorized fashion. But the Bible does tell us to meditate on His word and if nothing else, that has been accomplished over these verses.
Proverbs just pours out wisdom, speaking of wisdom far more than any other book in the Bible. And that brings us to the question for today- What does the final line mean when it tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction?” What does it mean to fear the Lord and why does that bring us knowledge, wisdom, and instruction?
The Holiness of God
Did you know in the old testament, it is said multiple times that if we saw the face of God we would surely die? That is how amazing He is. Let’s think about it. He created the heavens and the Earth. He is outside of time and space. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is literally so BIG, powerful, and altogether awesome that there is nothing that is above Him. He is not a man, never was, never will be. To do the things that God had done and will do, well it is just straight the holiest of all anything. But with this comes booming thunder and power. Is that kind of power bring a little fear into your gut? It did for the people of the Bible.
But this also invokes comfort. God is so BIG and capable of all things. That means that immense power is also working for your good.
Respect
With all that power also comes so much love. Think about what He is capable of creating. Now apply that to how capable He is of loving you.
This brings with it some responsibility. As much as He loves you, He equally hates the things that can destroy you- sin. And His wrath against sin comes with that.
Understanding His wrath against sin because of His love for us brings a responsibility. It brings respect.
When we respect something we fear the result of disrespect.
Trust and Faith
The Bible tells us to fear no one, nothing but the Lord.
That respect, honor for His holiness, and awe at His capability gives us peace. If God, the great and amazing God that He is, is for us who can stand against us?
We should have nothing to fear because He is capable of all things. Nothing stands above Him and if our strength comes from Him, then what in the world could we ever be afraid of?
We fear Him because He is above all else.
Are you Fearing the Lord?
True fear of the Lord causes us as believers to place our faith and trust in Him alone for salvation. He is above all the rest. Our fear of Him speaks to the holiness of God, the respect we must give Him, His love for us, and the trust and faith built because of that fear in Him over everything else.
In today’s passage, it gives us hope that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Don’t be a fool and turn away from His beautiful wisdom and instruction.
That is His wisdom from above.
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