Sunday, January 22, 2006

WordPoints - January 22, 2006

The Beginning of Wisdom
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10

The search for wisdom must never be separated from the seeking of God. If our philosophy is not empowered by sound theology, it faces an insurmountable barrier.

The fundamental truths about God constitute the "basics" of knowledge. God's reality is the most important thing that can be known and also the most obvious (Romans 1:19,20). In the ABCs of knowledge, we start with God. Those who disbelieve often see themselves as more advanced in their learning. But "no art, no philosophy, no science, no literature, no intellectual attainments or achievements of any kind whatever will compensate for ignorance of God; the soul that knows not him is an ignorant man; the time that knows not him is an ignorant age" (W. Clarkson).

The knowledge of God is also the "basis" of knowledge. It's the organizing principle that unifies everything else, the framework within which all the pieces of information fit together. "On the day I first really believed in God," wrote Dag Hammarskjold, "for the first time life made sense to me and the world had meaning." In God, a chaos of facts becomes a cosmos of knowledge.

The plain truth is this: we won't grow wise without seeking God, and we won't seek God without humility, respect, and reverence. That is why the fear of the Lord is the "beginning" of wisdom. Pride always corrupts the learning process. The illusion that we know more than we do (coupled with the unwillingness to accept truths that might have unwelcome consequences) will keep us from making progress in wisdom. It is respect for the Creator that opens the door to intellectual growth.

Paul wrote of certain individuals who "suppress the truth" (Romans 1:18). There are those, he said, who evade the facts and refuse to "retain God in their knowledge" (Romans 1:28). These are strong words, without a doubt, but we need to hear them. Do we allow God to be the beginning of our real-world wisdom? How honestly do we accept this, the most primary of all truths: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1)?

Far more crucial than what we know or do not know
is what we do not want to know.
Eric Hoffer
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Copyright © 2006 by Gary Henry - Visit the WordPoints web site: www.wordpoints.com

4 comments:

Darlene Schacht said...

When we have knowledge of God we can understand life which can be the most confusing thing of all if a person doesn't believe.

I find that the Bible is like a jigsaw puzzle. With each peice you read, the entire picture comes into view. Each part is intricately conected to another in such an awesome way.

Anne said...

lisa - I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Just hang in there for her. Your post made me think of these passages:

Matthew 10:34-36 (Jesus speaking) "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword . 35 For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; 36 and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'" NKJV

1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." NKJV

1 Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." NKJV


darlene - So true.

2 Peter 1:5-8 "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." NKJV

eyes_only4him said...

wow, I love your site, I may have to show this one to the hubby..he would love this too..

anyhoo, thanks for stopping by..and your frigde,,haha..looks about like mine:)

Anne said...

Just C - thanks for visiting with me. I hope your husband likes my posts.

Suzie Badoozie - I'm so glad this post meant something to you today. I hope you girls have a good day today.