“The fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom.”* How many times have I read that verse? As a kid I thought the verse referred to actually fearing God and being afraid of Him. I was so confused. How could being afraid of God make me more wise? Then I studied the verse and I learned that the fear of God is submission to God. When we honor Him, respect Him and put Him first, we gain wisdom. Honor and respect are forms of submission. Respecting God is the perfect foundation for wisdom. Respecting Him and getting to know Him results in insight, good judgment and understanding of all things about God and life. There are so many mysteries in life and we can’t get to understand life and to grow in the knowledge of God unless we fear Him. I love how fearing God can also be translated as obeying God and having reverence for Him. The Holy Spirit plays a major role in the acquisition of wisdom. He is the giver of all wisdom and we can’t respect the Lord without respecting His Spirit. If you are trying to learn more about God and to become wiser, honor the Spirit of Jesus. Have reverence for His Spirit. Put the Holy Spirit on a pedestal and respect Him. The Word of God is inspired by His Spirit. You and I can find the wisdom we need when we spend time in the Word and time with the Spirit.
How can we respect the Holy Spirit? One thing that is very clear about the Holy Spirit is that He always points at Jesus. He always leads us to honor Jesus and to lift Him up. I was on the train the other day and I felt a worship party on the inside of me. I call a worship party an inner celebration when I hear songs of praise or when I actually praise the Lord deep down. Sometimes music starts on the inside and if I follow the lead of the movement of the Holy Spirit, I have a great celebration in me. Jesus is lifted up and it is a beautiful experience. On the train I had a great Jesus moment. I forgot what was around me and I sang about Jesus and to Jesus. It wasn’t out loud. It was all in my spirit and I was filled with intense peace. It was a wonderful time and just thinking of it, I can still feel the joy. I let the Holy Spirit take over and I had that celebration despite what was going on in my head. That is how you respect the Holy Spirit by giving Him free reign and doing something that glorifies Jesus. From those great moments, you will gain wisdom. You will learn more about the Father and about the Son. I find that praise and worship give me a burst of messages and information. There is an impartation that takes place when I worship Jesus. Something happens in my spirit and my mind gets renewed.
Submission is key and submitting to the Word of God is a powerful instance of fearing the Lord. When I don’t spend time in the Word for a while, I feel a void. I need my spirit to be fine tuned and I am not all there. We can’t live without the Word of God but I see that a lot of us never open our Bibles. We can’t blame God for “being distant” when we don’t take the time to get close to Him. He is never far. We are the ones who step away from Him by focusing more on the world. The authority of the Word of God should be part of our daily indulgence. We indulge in social media more than we engage with the Word of God. The wisdom of the Word of God is more precious than any gold in the world and it is more helpful than any advice we can get from social influencers. The nuggets of wisdom we glean from the Word of God are life-changing. They help us live the life of abundance that Jesus promised us. We can’t live wisely without the wisdom of the Word. The Holy Spirit doesn’t contradict the Word and if we don’t know the Word well, we won’t be able to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit. Let’s fear the Lord wholeheartedly by respecting Him and honoring Him every day. Let’s connect with His Spirit and let’s spend time in His Word. Let’s praise Him and celebrate Him. Wisdom will ensue and the knowledge of the things of the Lord will impact our lives in a very positive way. May God bless you and protect you and remember that He will always love you!
Suggested reading: Proverbs 9:10*; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 2:17
Words of hope for today 