Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.
Praise him forever! Psalm 111:10 (NLT)
This passage comes up for me time and time again over the years. In part, because I spend more time than I should trying to figure out if I am off my rocker. You may wonder why. Well, it's because I don't see alot of the fear of the Lord in the people around me.
More often, even within the church, there are many excuses made about why it's acceptable for an individual to engage in pretty much whatever they want to do. In the church, the hideous excuse is 'GRACE'. As though God's incredible grace were a good reason to sin against a holy God continually.
So what is fear of the Lord? Is it being literally afraid of Him? Is it reverence? Is it obedience?
Fear of the Lord means seeking the Lord for wisdom in all things. Fear of the Lord means looking for His way of doing life. EVERY. ASPECT. of life.
The way you talk(tone of voice, word choice, body language), how you spend your time, what you watch, what you listen to, how you dress, what you look at, what you read, where you go, who you go with, who you ignore or don't ignore, how you spend your money, what causes you champion, what causes you malign.
I've heard people mock those who will literally ask God about every action they take. I like to stand a little distance from someone who would mock someone else for seeking wisdom. We are called to submit to the Lord in all things, not just the things we decide are the important ones.
It may be the case that after a person has spent years asking the Lord for direction in every little thing that he gains the perspective of the Lord more fully and doesn't need to ask every time, but how can we go wrong in asking the Lord for direction? Is learning to wait on His answer ever going to hurt us?
Fear of the Lord is ultimately humility. Humbling ourselves before an awesome God and seeking Him alone for wisdom. Putting ourselves in His hands regardless of what those around us may think and fully surrendering.
Since fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, I'm going to guess it's also the beginning of true love. And we know that is a priority dear to the Father's great and gracious heart.
