Proverbs 1

Three Sundays ago the pastor at our church gave us each the assignment of reading one chapter of Proverbs a day. After each reading we were to take one verse that spoke to us and look at it several times that day. I am behind...No, I have not even started. Better late than never so I thought I would do this assignment starting today and post my picks on the blog with a brief explanation of what I got out of that day's verse. So here goes with Proverbs 1. I chose Proverbs 1:7 which reads: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." I know most people may read fear to mean to be afraid of God but usually the word fear in the Bible has more of a meaning of awe and reverence. So to be truly wise when it comes to spiritual knowledge you must first start with respect for God. In the context of the Bible wisdom is defined as discovering and applying God's truth to our lives. Even if we are not talking about the Bible I am sure we all know foolish people who get themselves into trouble by not heeding wise advice. Or people who have no respect for the law and lead a life of crime. If more people would heed the word of the Bible they would find that their life is less troublesome. When it says fools despise wisdom and discipline it is true. I have known several people who are actually proud of the things they do even if they are illegal. When they finally get caught they wonder what happened. Then they go right back out and do the same type of thing over and over. Even if you are a person who does not believe in God or is not a Christian you have to realize that most of our laws started with the 10 Commandments. We would all agree that these are wise things to follow in a civilized society. I think my thoughts may have been a little scattered with this one so will try to be a little more clear and concise with future posts.