Proverbs 1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
We come now to one of the most important verses in scripture.
We have defined wisdom as skill in navigating the complexities of life, and together we have looked at a few synonyms of wisdom (instruction, insight, prudence, learning). But now we get to the very heart of wisdom. Wisdom’s controlling principle.
Fear.
Fear can be a bit of a confusing word can’t it? Fear here is not about that thing that terrorizes you, or gives you nightmares. If a loving relationship with God is the goal (knowledge), and it is, then being afraid of God is not a useful starting point for either of us. However, awe of God, respect for God, love for what he loves, a worshipful submission to his control, these can be the building blocks of a healthy relationship with the Lord. This sort of fear of Yahweh, the self-revealed, transcendent and imminent, holy and merciful, God of the burning bush, can bring us into a face-to-face friendship with God just as it did Moses. Moses, who made God the blazing center of his life.
So let me ask, what is at the center of your life? What do you care about the most? What do you think about the most? Dream about the most? Worry about the most? Who are you trying to please the most? Or another way to ask the question is, what are you afraid of?
Your answer to this is likely the thing that you fear the most. The thing that you worship and submit to. The controlling principle of your life.
Apart from the work of Christ the fear of the Lord is only a dream. It is through Christ alone that we can move from being afraid of God to fearing the Lord. To awe inspired love and respect, satisfaction and submission, worship and wonder.
Is Christ your blazing center?
Likely your answer is yes and no. Yes, Jesus lives at our center. He is united to us by the Spirit. He has made his home in our heart temple. He blazes within us. We are jars of clay containing the glory of God. This is what we call our position in Christ. Unchanging. Unending. Under God’s control.
Yet, at the same time, we are so easily veiled from the Light that shines in us. We settle far too easily and far too often for lesser glories and are driven far too often by our earthly fears. Union with Christ is just head knowledge, not heart knowledge. This is our condition in Christ. Always changing. Temporary. Under God’s and our control.
Fear of the Lord means getting the truths of your position to take root in the condition of your heart and mind and draw you ever closer to the Lord’s grace and love in awe and wonder.
You: What prevents you from fearing the Lord?
You in Christ: How can the truth of your union with Christ produce awe and wonder in you?
Christ in you: Is your life stuck focusing on a lesser glory?How can you practice moving past lesser glories to the glory of Christ in you?
Pray: Father, I want you and your Son to be the center of my life. Teach me to fear you. Teach me to keep digging past the lesser glories to the blazing center of your life and love for me. Amen.
To Live is Christ 