Dave spoke this morning from Proverbs 9:10-12, reminding us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fear was first mentioned in the Bible in Gen 3:10, when Adam was afraid to meet with God because of sin. His disobedience meant that he knew he had done wrong and was rightly afraid of the consequences of this. We need to understand that God does not change and therefore there is not an ‘Old Testament’ God of wrath and a ‘New Testament’ God of love; rather the one God is both loving and righteous, forgiving and holy.
Wisdom is defined in the dictionary as ‘the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment’, but spiritual wisdom is more than knowledge. Solomon wrote many proverbs about wisdom, but we need to understand that both the wisdom and love of God are combined in the person of Jesus. It’s vital that we know both love and the fear of God; it’s not an ‘either/or’ situation. As we learn more of who God is, then we receive the wisdom we need (see James 1:5); we must also learn to submit to God in reverence and awe if we are to grow in spiritual wisdom (see James 4:7).
We may well feel in the present times that we need much wisdom to navigate the difficult and often stormy situations of 2021. In order to receive spiritual wisdom, we must always begin with the fear of the Lord. Our knowledge of Him will lead us into wisdom so that we are guided by the Lord Himself.
