Proverbs 9:10: The Fear of The Lord Is The Beginning of Wisdom
Proverbs 9:10 (New American Standard Bible 1995)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
What is the fear of the Lord? Does it mean that we live in holy terror of the Living God and we live in fear to draw near to Him? That we live in continual fear that somehow God is going to strike us with His angry hand? I believe the answer to this question is no.
From scripture we see the character and nature of God. We come to understand that He is a loving Father. He desires the very best for His children. He has created His children with specific purpose and destiny. Nothing in our lives happens by accident. We have a true enemy who desires to destroy the purposes of God, but God will always use every thing we face for our good and our purpose if we truly love Him and seek His face.
But to fear the Lord means to live in holy reverence of who God is. Every decision we make in life must be made with Him and His kingdom in mind. How is what we are deciding to do going to impact our relationship with Him. In coming into relationship with Him all of our lives belong to Him. The mistake many make is they want to separate the secular and the sacred and believe only certain things belong to the Lord. But everything in our lives if we are truly a child of God belong to the Lord. If we seek first His kingdom and righteousness, we will see His hand move mightily in our lives.
The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord. The beginning of understanding is the knowledge of the Holy One. This doesn't simply speak of head knowledge, but to know Him personally. We have the great honor and privilege to walk in intimacy with the Lord every day. Jesus has made it possible that our sin no longer separates us from our Father in Heaven. He is bidding us to come to the throne of grace with confidence, without fear,
If we will simply surrender all things to Him, we will see His hand move in our lives in a mighty way. Every battle we face will be given to Him, and we will see victory and breakthrough on a daily basis. Often times what the Lord is waiting for is for us to surrender all things to Him. To lay down all things at His feet. Today may our lives be fully surrendered to Him.
Prayer
Father today help me to rightly understand my relationship with you. Help me to understand what it means to not only properly live in fear of who you are, but to have a right understanding of who you are. Father remove from my life anything that is unpleasing to you. May the mediations of my heart and the words of mouth be pleasing to you. Guard my heart against the temptations and wiles of the devil. Father may my heart solely be fixed upon you. In the name of Jesus, Amen.