The fear of the Lord

Dear Readers, How long has it been since you read through the Proverbs? It has been a while for me, so this month I hope to put some time in reading the Proverbs and taking them to heart. Chapter 1 starts with a little introduction giving the purpose of the book. Solomon, son of King David wrote these proverbs, so that young men in particular, could get wisdom and discipline for a prudent life. This is a goal that many a mother of sons has for them, that our sons would live lives full of wisdom, discipline and prudence. That they would have knowledge and discretion in their decision making. Let's read one proverb a day, since there are 31, and we'll be finished in a month. Let's read them to see what Solomon suggests for our sons, really for all our children and for us so that we will increase in learning and discernment. Proverbs 1:1 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Solomon starts by exhorting us to fear the Lord. The fear of the LORD...does this mean that we are to be afraid of the LORD? In one sense of the word it does. We often treat the LORD as anyone else, with a slight reguard. He is to be feared and reverenced above any other. He holds the power to life and death. In the Hebrew the word here for fear, "yirah" means to reverence; which includes afraid and fear. How might we teach our children to "fear or reverence the LORD? We need to start with ourselves, do we fear or reverence the LORD? Our actions toward the LORD will influence our children. Do we have great respect toward Him, do we love Him, serve Him, put Him first in our lives? As the Christmas season is upon us, are our thoughts turned to the baby in Bethlehem's manger that came to die, so that we might live with Him forever? Or are trees, tinsel, gifts and snowmen crowding out our realationship with Him? As we continue to read Chapter 1, we find that fools despise wisdom and discipline...if we want our children to fear the Lord, we would be wise to fear the Lord ourselves and not despise wisdom and discipline in our own lives. We find that sons are to listen to their Father's instructions and not to forsake their mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace their head and a chain to adorn your neck. 1:8-9. The chapter goes on to warn the young men about those who would try to take them off the pathway of wisdom. Please read the rest of the chapter and pray about how and when you can instruct your children in these valuable truths and continue to challenge yourself to fear the LORD.