“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Proverbs 9:10 NIV
If you’ve read the bible end to end, the phrase above (and variations of it) is all over and across many books and chapters from the Old Testament to the New Testament. I’m recently re-reading the Proverbs book and came across this again, which made me think about this phrase deeply. But what does this mean? Let’s go to Proverbs 3…
1 – Wisdom begins when you stop leaning on your own understanding.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”
Proverbs 3:5-8 NIV
When we’re young and inexperienced, of course we call on the help of our parents, teachers, and elders. If we have good parents, they teach us to pray to God.
But as soon as we gain experience and start to have successes of our own, we forget about getting help. We start to lean on ourselves. We develop egos. We think we’re mature enough to be able to survive and thrive. We start to feel wise in our own eyes. We start to lose fear of the Lord. We forget that we got here in the first place because we were humble enough to seek wisdom and go to God.
I wrote about the pride before the fall. We’ve seen this too many times in the bible as well as in current events.
2 – Wisdom begins when we are humble enough to ask God for it.
“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”
Proverbs 4:7 NIV
One example of acquiring wisdom is to pray and ask God. There’s too many examples of this in the bible, and the first person that comes to find who demonstrates this best is David:
Even Solomon made God happy right after he took over from David. He chose wisdom instead of wealth and health.
God basically says this word for word in Proverbs 2.
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
Proverbs 2:1-5 NIV
God wants us to seek wisdom proactively. To look for it like a hidden treasure. To cry aloud and seek his guidance.
3 – Fear of the Lord leads to wisdom, and wisdom leads to long life and prosperity.
“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.”
Proverbs 3:13-18 NIV
“For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.”
Proverbs 9:11-12 NIV
Dear readers, I thank the Lord for reminding us on how to navigate our lives. We will experience some form of success, but let’s not allow our egos to swell. May we all remain humble, and seek wisdom through prayer instead of leaning on our own understanding.
Fear of the Lord is to accept we’re not at the center, and that we should let go, and let God, no matter our success, status, wealth, and health.
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