“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Prov9:10
This week we have been considering the wisdom of God and its importance to live effectively for Him. At the start of the week we remembered that the Bible encourages us to get wisdom above all else. In this verse we see that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord.
I appreciate that some may struggle with this statement - you might think, “the bible says perfect love casts out fear, so why should I fear God?” But this passage is not simply suggesting you live your life afraid of God.
The “fear of the Lord” is more about how we view the world.
What do you fear most? What is it that holds greatest power over how you think, feel and behave? For some it is financial security, for some it is family and for others it is fear of rejection.
To place anything other than God as supreme in our life will rob us of true wisdom. God is not there to simply balance the stress of the world - He sits above the world and all things are subject to Him. Fear in this respect means to properly appreciate the awesome power and nature of God - to honour Him for who He is and to reverence Him. When we see the true glory and nature of God we position ourselves in a place to receive true wisdom and find understanding for every situation.