Counsel, Discipline, Encouragement, Grace, Hope, Jesus' Return, Obedience, Prayer, Repentance, Righteousness, Salvation, Sin, Wisdom, Worship

Being in Awe of the Lord is Part of Wisdom

The book of Proverbs is a book that is full of wise words, words that we need to heed. Solomon, who wrote the book of Proverbs, asked God for wisdom. He knew from where wisdom comes, and God imparted to him so much wisdom that Solomon was known as the wisest man on earth. Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (ESV) The King James Version says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” The best source of wisdom comes from God and His Word.

Our verse tells us that the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. The word, “fear” in Hebrew is “yara or yirah.” The definition of Yirah means awe. According to the website, FIRM (Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries), “Yirah,” has to do with beholding something that is beyond one’s capabilities and understanding. The website gave three points, “1. Yirah calls us to worship. 2. Yirah challenges us to be wise and obey. 3. Yirah gives us a future hope.”

As we seek God’s wisdom with Yirah or awe, it should cause us to worship Him because He is God, and He is worthy to be worshipped. Worshipping God is our primary purpose. We were created to worship Him. “The people I formed for myself will declare my praise.” (Isaiah 43:21 CSB) Seeking God’s wisdom through prayer, Bible Study, and church attendance, are part of worshipping Him, giving Him the honor due Him. We do so in awe of who He is.

Yirah or awe of the Lord challenges us to be obedient and to use the wisdom He grants us. The more we seek His will in our lives and are obedient to what He tells us in His Word, the more we move toward a proper reverential fear of God. It helps show Him how much we love Him. Jesus tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” (John 14:15 CSB) God told the Israelites when they were in the wilderness, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;” (Exodus 19:5 ESV) He loves us and He desires our obedience, much like a parent loves and expects obedience from their children. When we use wisdom and are obedient to God, we should be in awe of how much He loves us even during the times we stumble and fall short of His will for us.

Finally, Yirah, or awe, gives us a future hope. Wisdom would be recognizing that our hope is found in Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we would not have to pay the death penalty for our sins. Then He resurrected from the grave and conquered death, sin, and the grave and promised to come back and take us to be with Him. That is our future hope! When we think about how Jesus took that horrible punishment for us when we did not deserve His mercy. We should be in awe of how much He loves us, takes our punishment, and saves us from eternal death when we reach out and ask for His forgiveness and accept Him to be Lord of our lives.  

Wisdom begins when we recognize God as our Sovereign Lord, Savior, and Redeemer and worship Him in the light of Who He is. True reverence of God and Who He is, is the beginning of wisdom.

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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