Are you ready for the Word!

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7

Is there still a place for fearing God in society and our lives individually? I ask this question because the Bible has much to say about fearing and demonstrating respect for God. Do you think reverence for God is increasing or decreasing in society? In your observations, do you find that the general population’s approach the to places and practices of worship to be more or less sacred? There seems to be a slow drift of the heart from approaching God as awe worthy, the Holy Other that simultaneously inspires hope and fear in our heart, to a God who is our “buddy” the Mister “fix-it”, or the one who is to blame when things go very wrong in our lives or in this world.

Is the Ancient of Days being dismantled bit by bit before our very eyes? It is obvious that over the past 30 years the culture has undergone a massive shift downward when it comes to the role of religion and spirituality. In many schools God has been expelled, and Atheism is sounding more like a faith belief that opposes God’s existence, rather than a solely scientific position. As many children, youth, and young adults return to their academic institutions they will be facing these realities.

Therefore, I offer this verse from the writer of the Proverbs, “The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge.” These words echo through the annals of time declaring to us that knowing God is the true foundation of all knowledge and wisdom. I like this phrase I heard a lecturer use once, “God is the uncaused cause of the universe.” God is the Designer, Initiator, and Manufacturer of life and the universe. God is the missing link that science desperately seeks. Existence makes sense when God is in the equation. The quandary, however, is this, if God is in the equation why can life be so tragic, violent and senseless?

Listen to these verses that speak to fearing God: “how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You;” “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him;” “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence.” Could the fear of God be a solution to many of our global concerns, and the senselessness of life? Are we suffering from the side effects of marginalizing God from the public sector and trying to regulate Him to the closet of people’s lives?

There is a generation that is growing up on a moral diet that excludes innocence, an emotional diet that elevates self-centeredness, and a societal diet that eliminates God. Those who practice praying, pray with me this week for all of our students. Pray for their families, their teachers, and their quest to find truth in the midst of all the information they receive in their academic and social lives. Over the next few weeks I invite you to walk with me through the Proverbs and see the relevance of the wisdom of God speaking to the concerns and challenges of our generation. Think on these things.