My life journaling passages for today, May 26th are Proverbs 1-3 and Romans 7. As I was reading, several verses were being illuminated to me.
First was Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and knowledge." -This must be the first step in our relationship with Christ, right? We must have that deep reverence and awe of His greatness and power! He is, after all, the "Great I Am!" I think the fear of the Lord is minimized in the western prosperity gospel that is preached in some places.
Second was Proverbs 1:23, "If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you." -We must be willing to receive correction from the Lord, knowing that He knows what is best for us. If we are available to be corrected, we can receive outpouring of the spirit, which has often been turned down to a trickle because of our stubbornness.
Third was Proverbs 2:4-5, "if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." This says that we must seek to understand the fear of the Lord...
Fourth was Proverbs 2:7-10,
"he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul..."
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul..."
To me this says that when we walk in the path God has for us, we will be seeking justice; our paths will be guarded. It also says that we will understand righteousness and justice and equity, which are called the "good path." So, when we search and seek to understand the fear of God, like searching for something as precious as treasures, we will understand and fear the Lord while finding the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God, which we will understand is righteousness, justice and equity, will help direct our paths of justice and the Lord will be watching over the way of His saints.
Last, from Proverbs 3:5-6,
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths."
We must have God's understanding, and God's heart then we can pursue paths of justice. Only then will we be in God's will and will have God as our shield.
There are so many more great verses in these first three chapters, but these were the ones that hadn't stood out to me before. It probably looks a lot like proof texting, but, I didn't read these chapters with the intention of proving anything about fear of the Lord and it's link to straight and just paths... I came to the conclusions I came to while reading :)
