The Fear of the LORD is 'Bottom Line'

            The following is an excerpt from my commentary on Proverbs. I will use them from time to time, trusting that they will be helpful and edifying.

Prov. 1:7---The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.   

             The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge – Since the LORD is the Author of all knowledge, our relationship to Him is all important if there is to be understanding. Thus, the “fear of the LORD” is the essential ingredient in the fruitful understanding of God’s truth.           

            "The fear of the LORD" is the key verse of Proverbs and the prerequisite to godliness. A holy reverence and respect for Jehovah ("The Great I AM"-Ex.3:14) is the essence of salvation in Christ. (2Cor.7:1) Practically speaking, fearing God is taking Him seriously. This is the great need in the Church today. Not professing one thing and living another. Someone said: "If the Holy Spirit left the world, 95% of so-called Christian work would still continue as is"! He blesses and uses those who fear Him.

            "Beginning of knowledge..." The word for "beginning" has the meaning of "first place, chief part, principle thing, or best"; no one really "knows" anything apart from the fear of God. It is this particular fear that is the chief part of all knowledge, i.e. awareness of the facts. The ABC's are the principle part of our language; one never gets past these no matter how educated he may be. All words from "cat" to "trigonometry" are but combinations of those basic letters. So no one ever gets past the fear of God.

            It's been said that no doctor has ever really seen a body unless he has a sense of the fear of God; because we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Without that fear, an astronomer is yet to see the wonder of a star in the universe. O, LORD, my God, how Great Thou Art!

            But fools despise wisdom and instruction - Only fools (silly ones) despise (hold in disdain, of no importance) the wisdom (skill) and instruction (discipline) that results from walking in the fear of God. O, what the world, and even the Church, is missing by ignoring the One who made them and bought them with a price!

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