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My Journey Through The Proverbs


I haven't written in a while even though I certainly enjoy it. In some part, I've been waiting until I've felt like I had a subject that I could enjoy and something that would be interesting and beneficial for anyone who might find this and read it.  My intention is to go through selected proverbs, explore their meaning, and simply pass along my own personal study, while trying not to sound "teachy" or condescending. My hope is that this journey through proverbs, will help me live a life pleasing to God, and remind me of the things that God would want me to teach my children.

Here we go.

Chapter 1:1-7  (NLT)
These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insights of the wise.
 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is  right, just, and fair. These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.
 Let those with understanding receive guidance
by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles. Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

I want to keep this fairly short, so I just want to highlight what I see as the main point of this passage. Verse 7 states that the reader should understand that the first step in gaining knowledge, is to "fear" God. I've always been taught that to fear God is to revere or respect God. And while I believe this to be true, if we stop there, I think we might miss the main point.
Now that I'm a father, I've learned some new things about this word, "fear". When you have children, you quickly learn, that if your children do not "fear" consequences, they will not be inclined to obey.  In other words, my children must "fear"me (or my wife) because we deliver consequences to misbehavior.  In order to train respect, we follow through with consequences when the boundaries are crossed.  "Fear" comes as my young child is deciding whether or not he should draw on the wall. He wants to draw on the wall, but if I've parented properly, an immediate fear comes over him, that reminds him of the consequences of his actions, should he choose to misbehave. 

So, in this sense, "fear" includes acknowledging an authority, understanding boundaries, and belief that crossing those boundaries brings consequences. Proverbs gives us some of those boundaries and tells us of the consequences. 

We revere God because he deserves reverence as the Creator God! 
We respect God, because of His love, benevolence, and consistency.
We fear God, because we believe that God is the perfect Father and He does what He says.




Continue with this study on Proverbs
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