What Do You Know

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but the fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Where does knowledge come from? How do we get it? These are great questions and are filled with many avenues and direction. The first thing that many schools throw out of any discussion or pursuit of knowledge is God. When we want to know about anything we usually look to the designer and maker to learn how it works or how it will benefit us. Yet in this verse we see the beginning of knowledge begins with the fear of the Lord. We cannot hope to attain any real understanding of our world, its purpose, or our place in it without first turning to and learning from God. He is after all the creator of all things. The fool looks at material things and therefore assumes things about God; the wise person looks at God and therefore assumes things about material things.
Is the window you look at the world through flawed by a traditional blemish in the window? Is your window clouded with sin that blinds you to God’s glory? Or do you look at the world through the lens of God’s Word and with a fearsome understanding that it was created for the glory of God? If you do then intellectual pursuits, family relationships, job opportunities, and every other area of life will fit into place. If on the other hand you do not begin with fear of the Lord, then life will appear to be like a cross word puzzle with an incorrect word written in the middle; nothing will fit properly.
If you are getting some wrong answers, that don’t seem to fit or solve the problems in your life, try erasing all your answers and replacing them with God’s. Remember, God is the maker and creator of all. He has given us the rule book by which we are to live and He alone gives us the ability to learn how to use the knowledge in His Word. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.