March 25

Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)
10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

God is very clear on His desire to bless and take care of His people. He wants His fame and glory to fill the earth and for everyone to see the wonder of blessing that He gives to His people. We are supposed to be different. We were meant to be amply supplied for and living in prosperity, safe from harm, mighty warriors, living in freedom and not under any bondage and have God walking among us! Wow, that is a great plan! That is God’s plan as outlined in Leviticus 26. Also outlined in that chapter is what will happen if you don’t keep covenant with God. It is basically the opposite of God’s plan, although it seems to come in different levels as if to leave room for repentance before it gets worse.

The fear of God is to fear what He said would come true will come true. It is to consider Him a God of His word. That is why it is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. When we fear the Lord, we are honoring His character by proclaiming that His word is true and we believe it.

There is another point to be made about this; to gain wisdom and understanding is desirable because you become prosperous, protected, peaceful, mighty and dwell with God Himself. How much more for us who have the Holy Spirit living inside of us? People often focus on the punishment or negative side effects of disobedience – (our disobedience isn’t not keeping the law, but among the most important things, it isn’t believing God – having trust that He will do what He said He will do and loving one another) – instead of the great blessing of walking in obedience! If the old covenant (the new covenant is better) had such grand blessings attached to it, how much more will our covenant with God (because it is better), give us the things that we long for!