and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
I like going to school. That’s probably a good thing since I’m a school teacher. (It would be awful if I didn’t like school and still needed to go everyday!) But I happen to be one of those odd ducks who likes to learn, doesn’t mind studying, and actually will spend her weekend writing papers for some obscure college class.
I like to learn new things.
The problem is, learning new stuff doesn’t always do us rightly. In other words, we can learn facts and theories and procedures all day long . . . and still be as dumb as a board when it comes to actually living life in some semblance of righteousness. Why? Because we focus on the wrong things!
Every venture has a starting point. When you build a house, you begin with the foundation. When you go on a trip, you begin at the location. When you run a race, you begin at the starting mark. Becoming wise is no different. There is a starting point and scripture tells us that the starting point of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
Now think about starting points. You can’t run a race unless you are at the starting mark. No race judge in his right mind is going to let you enter the race at the mid point. It’s the same with a trip. Until we have beaming technology (a la Star Trek), there’s no way that we can get to our destination without beginning at our present location. And, well, if you build a house without a foundation it’s unlikely that you will get the roof finished before the whole thing comes toppling down.
Everything has a beginning point, and, for wisdom, that beginning point is the fear of the Lord. Now, most of us would like to take that phrase “fear of the Lord” and just chuck it out the window. Why? Because we are much more comfortable with the loving, accepting, embracing God than with a God we must fear. I’ve heard all kinds of rationales about how this doesn’t actually mean “fear” but rather respect or some such thing. But the fact is, this Hebrew word means first and foremost “fear.” In fact, not just fear, but the fear that is accompanied by dread. Why is this important? Certainly not because God wants us to avoid coming into His presence. But the fact is, God is God! Creator, Majesty, All-Knowing, All-Ruling! While we are called to be His friends, we are not His pals; we are His subjects, His servants, His children. All of those things bring with them the idea that we are subservient, completely dependent upon Him. And well we should be!
We should have a healthy respect, reverence and awe for Father God and it is this “fear” that is the beginning of wisdom. Why? I think because this fear puts us into a right relationship with God in the sense that we understand then Who He is and we understand who we are. We are not Creator, but creations. We are not God, but humans. We are not the Worshiped, but worshiper. (I think we sometimes forget these things.)
But the proverb doesn’t stop there. If we want to gain more than just the beginning of wisdom, our wisdom is increased as we come to know more and more of God, not just about Him, but the kind of intimate knowledge that comes from being in someone’s presence. It’s not enough just to know about God; we need to know Him. And that comes from prayer, from study, from meditation, and from turning our stubborn wills from serving our own self desires to serving His desires, His commands, His will.
Do we want to become wise? It’s popular in our culture to be unwise, to be foolish, to be reckless and foolhardy. Scripture even describes these kinds of people: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22 NRSV). But that doesn’t change the fact that wisdom should be embraced. If we want to become the kind of believers that will impact our culture and our communities, we must first learn how to walk to path of wisdom.
© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
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