Begining of Wisdom

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Proverbs 1:7

There are a lot of difficult questions facing our world today. How do we organize our spending priorities to change the economic crisis we are in? How do we resolve the problem of world wide terrorism? Should we continue with the war in Iraq or move to Afghanistan? On the medical front, in the classroom, on Capitol Hill and in the cities and towns across America, we seem to have more questions than good answers.

Fundamentally, we have failed to look to our best source for answers the one true God. The most wise man to ever have lived was King Solomon. He was wealthy beyond his wildest dream but the one thing he asked God for was to gran him wisdom and God did. Solomon wrote the Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. Each is filled with tremendous insight and wisdom for young and old alike, for leaders, for married couples and a host of other professional disciplines and social situations.

However, Solomon starts his writings with what I believe is his most profound revelation for the God, the spiritual author of everything he wrote. All knowledge begins with fear (respect and reverence) of the Lord. One can spend a lifetime studying and become a scholar and recognized expert in his or her field, but without a genuine reverence for God, all of it is for naught.

Isaiah 29:14 says, "I (God) will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Paul says in 1 Corinthians that God has "made foolish the wisdom of the world."

What scholar has figured out where the earth came from? Why are no two snowflakes the same? Who or what caused "Old Faithful" to erupt like clockwork for thousands of years? In the thirty-eighth chapter of the Book of Job, God conducts a four chapter final exam for which Job cannot answer a single question after which he concedes "I know that you can do all things (Lord); no plan of yours can be thwarted." Job 42:2

As much as we try to find the answers to life's most difficult questions and debate over Darwin Theory, our minuscule attempt at gaining knowledge cannot advance until we first concede like Job "and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:6 God is the Creator, the author and he knows the beginning from the end and until we grasp that knowledge we will be hopelessly searching for wisdom and find ourselves miserably lost and ignorant.

My Prayer. Father, please forgive us for thinking we are wise when we fail recognize you as our loving and gracious redeemer. Forgive our arrogance and our pride and gently nudge us back from our aimless wandering. Help us to realize like you did with Job that it is only through your plan that our life will be lived. Help us to understand that we are your hands and feet and that your purpose will be fulfilled no matter how hard we try to do things on our own. Thank you Lord for continuously bringing us back as a shepherd rounds up his strays. Thank you for loving us enough to give us your Son as redemption from our sin and mediator for us when we wander away. I love you Father and I ask you for a double portion of wisdom beginning with a deep reverence for your goodness and mercy. In Jesus name I pray, Amen