Where can someone find wisdom? It’s a question that people have been asking for centuries. Many people throughout history traveled the world searching for wisdom. Today, many people do the same thing, traveling the globe north to south and east to west. Others look at philosophers and motivational speakers to find what they desire. However, the spirit of God had already given the answer to this question many centuries before any of the greatest Greek philosophers. Proverbs 9:10 says the following: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
To begin, let’s concentrate on the first part of this verse, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” Those who are searching for wisdom must start with the fear of the lord because as it’s stated, that is the beginning of wisdom. This leads us to our next question: what is the fear of the lord? When we hear the word fear, our mind races to think of “being scared,” “frightened,” or “terror.” However, the spirit of God isn’t saying that we must fear the lord. Some may think that the fear of the Lord is to do what is right just so that the Almighty does not punish us, but that is not correct. The fear of the lord is a virtue or a desire of our soul to act in a certain way. Specifically, the virtue of the fear of the lord helps one to separate themselves from evil and everything that offends the creator. Therefore, when a person has obtained this virtue, their actions are correct and pleasing before God. That is where one will find true wisdom.
The Holy Bible provides many examples of men and women who had the fear of God in their hearts and as a result, lived their life full of wisdom. For example, we can analyze the life of Joseph. In a moment where he could have taken action to offend God, he chose differently because he had the virtue of the fear of the lord. We can read in Genesis 39:9 his response, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” No one was present in that house, who would have known? The circumstances were set up to take the opportunity, but the fear of the lord helped him seperate himself from that which offended God. He immediately fled from that situation. Thus, the actions of Joseph demonstrate that he was a young man full of wisdom because he lived with the fear of the lord.
Therefore, the path to find wisdom is clear. If we want to obtain wisdom for our life, we must first begin by living with the fear of the lord. All the actions that we take must be pleasing to God. Whether we are at home, school, work, or somewhere in our community, we should always live according to God’s will. In addition, the apostle James writes about another tool that we will need in our journey to find wisdom. James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” When a person uses prayer to ask God for wisdom, he will respond. However, we must also know how to pray to the Lord.
To finalize, it’s crucial to understand the importance of the fear of God in our life. Therefore, I would like to extend an invitation to visit a congregation of The Light of the World to learn more of this virtue. There you will learn what God desires for your life and find the tools that will help in finding the wisdom that you desire. If you live in Juneau, we invite you to join us at: 1997 Dunn St. Suite No. 3. We are open Monday-Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. May the peace of God dwell in your hearts and God bless you all!
• Joab Cano is a missionary at The Light of the World Church. “Living & Growing” is a weekly column written by different authors and submitted by local clergy and spiritual leaders. It appears every Friday on the Juneau Empire’s Faith page.
