Devotional Day 28

Scripture

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Devotional

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of so much in the Christian life; the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, of knowledge, of purity and of humility, just to name a few. We can get pretty caught up trying to obtain some of these benefits, whilst not going through God’s determined pathway - the fear of the Lord.

How many Christians desire wisdom from God? Wanting to know what to do in a certain situation, how to overcome a circumstance, desiring to know God’s way over the world’s and yet find it such a struggle to obtain wisdom from God? Well, the bible teaches us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Not the middle, not some stop along the way to growing in wisdom - no, the fear of the Lord is the real beginning of wisdom. What this means is that without the fear of the Lord there can be no receiving of wisdom. Why? Well James gives us some insight:

James 1:5-8

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

This verse makes much more sense to us when we understand that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; in that, when we come to God asking him for wisdom, we have to actually come ready to fully submit to whatever he tells us to do - because if we don’t, if we take what we hear from God, weigh it up with the world’s wisdom or even our own and then decide whether we will listen to God’s wisdom or not, we become like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around, struggling to discern what God wants. If we don’t fear God, in other words, and we come to God for wisdom - we should not expect to receive anything from God because we are actually double minded.

When it comes to overcoming sin and navigating the journey of restoration and redemption out of idolatry - we need wisdom, and we need a lot of it. We need God’s wisdom into why we are in bondage, why we can’t break through and what is going on for us spiritually. We need God’s wisdom to help us untangle the web of idols and wounds in our lives, we need God’s wisdom to heal our marriages and relationships and we need God’s wisdom to rebuild our lives properly, on the solid foundation of Christ. If we don’t fear the Lord - we won’t be able to receive the wisdom from God that we so desperately need. So when you come to the Lord today, asking him for answers, asking for his wisdom - come in the fear of the Lord. With a heart that says “God, whatever you say, and whatever you want, I receive it. If you want me to reorient my life I will, if you want me to forgive - even though I don’t want to, I will. If you want me to apologise, to give up an idol, to undo the things I built into my life that weren’t your plan for me, I will God.” This genuine reverence and submission to God is the fear of the Lord - approach God today like this as you ask for his wisdom, and be encouraged that you will receive it.

Prayer

Lord - I humbly approach you today and lay it all down before you. My whole life is submitted to you, my preferences, my pride, my ego, my comfort and my own wisdom. I submit it all to you Lord. I’m coming to you because I need your help and I admit that you know what’s best for me, more than I do. I submit my whole self to you today and ask that you would give me wisdom.