Stand in Awe of God
"And he said to man, 'The fear of the Lord -- that is wisdom, and to shun eveil is understanding.'" -- Job 28:28
For a long time I had trouble with passages in the Bible that talked about fearing God. I didn't fear Him in the sense that I was afraid of Him. That's what I understood fear to mean. I knew -- and know -- that God loves me. How could I possibly be afraid of Him?
Well, further study revealed that fear in the Bible doesn't mean being afraid. To fear God means to respect and be in awe of Him. It means we are to love and worship Him -- not be afraid of Him. As you might imagine, that made me feel so much better. It was a starting place.
When we love, respect and honor God and stand in awe of all He does for us, we begin to understand His way and His heart. That's where wisdom begins. It's the place where we seek to know and do God's will, shunning evil and our own desires. Instead, we set ourselves on a path to righteousness and God's pleasing and perfect will for our lives.
It's not a straight path. We are human after all. We make mistakes. We sort of zig-zag along the path. But it's kind of funny. The more we seek God's wisdom, the more we zig toward Him as opposed to away from Him. We crave that relationship. We know His will and His way is best for us. And we want that.
Proverbs tells us that only fools resist the wisdom and knowledge of God. I've done enough foolish things in my life. How about you? The most important thing I've learned on this journey is that God is simply awesome! I can't even wrap my mind around all He has done for me and continues to do for me. I want to worship Him. I want to follow Him and do His will. I want Him, first and above all things. Maybe that is understanding.
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