"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding." Proverbs 9:10
A reverent grasp of holy God is a prerequisite to being given wisdom by God. Let's talk about this for a minute. Seeking God to get to know God is different than seeking God to get a need met or seeking God to fulfill a particular desire we have or even seeking God on behalf of others.
As you develop a relationship with God your eyes are opened to things that your eyes were not opened to prior. The understanding of how God operates among mankind is advanced as you grow closer to God. When God says "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom," God is letting us know about the depth of His holiness.
I wish we talked about getting to know God better for the sake of getting to know God better. When preaching is couched in terms of (what we are going to get in return for what we do for or with God) we have a skewed view of God, not caused by God, but caused by man interfering with God's interpretation of Himself, through the scriptures. If you were to read the scriptures and pray about the interpretation and set aside any preconceived notions about what so and so said God said, you would have a clearer understanding of what God has to say about Himself, about us and about how God operates among mankind.
Originally I began to fear the LORD because God said to.
Through following what God said to do I began to fear the LORD because I was able to see the great chasm between God's holiness and ours.
Then I feared the LORD because I was gaining wisdom from the experience which made it more understandable to me why I should fear the LORD.
Now I fear the LORD because I want to.
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