Read
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7
Reflect
What did you do for fun last weekend? A trip out of town? A walk on the beach? See a good movie? Maybe a fun time at an amusement park?
How about a ride over Niagara Falls in a barrel?
No? Well, that’s good, because it’s illegal. But it wasn’t illegal on October 24, 1901, when a 63-year-old schoolteacher named Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to successfully make that trip. Strapped into a specially equipped pickle barrel, Taylor bounded down the rapids and over the falls. Her harness hadn’t worked exactly as she planned, but she reached the shore alive. Unfortunately, her overall plan didn’t work. Taylor had hoped the stunt would have led to fame and fortune, but people didn’t care about her derring-do for very long. And eventually, 15 more people would make the same attempt (and 10 of them would be successful).
Yes, people will often do incredibly foolish things to get attention. If there’s a teenager with a cell phone nearby, there’s a good chance that something has been attempted recently that shouldn’t have been, whether by them or someone else. Foolishness isn’t anything new. In fact, a lot of the book of Proverbs was spent talking about foolishness versus wisdom. One of my favorite verses is, “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” (Proverbs 29:11)
But the best one is probably, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7) That word “fear” doesn’t mean “terror.” It’s more of a healthy fear, like knowing that the power of Niagara Falls isn’t something to dive into head-first. God is all-powerful, and we should treat Him with the respect that comes with being a Creator. But He is also loving, and we should love Him as the loving and caring Father that He is. When we have that healthy, loving relationship in place with the Lord, that’s our starting point for being able to receive what He has for us.
Fools, on the other hand, don’t have that healthy fear – of God, of danger, of embarrassment, of Niagara Falls. Alexander Pope wrote that, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” and that echoes common themes throughout Proverbs. Foolish people care little for what will happen to them – at least before they rush into their foolish endeavors.
As Christians, we should always be clearly different from people who do foolish things. We might look “tame” and “safe” to those who love to take dangerous risks, but in the eyes of God, that’s just wisdom. Keep that healthy fear of the Lord and seek His wisdom. Make sure that the decisions you make aren’t designed to gain you favor in the eyes of man, but instead in the eyes of God.
Reflection copyright © 2024 Doug DeBolt.
