The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do [his commandments]: his praise endureth for ever.
If the fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom, than such a statement excludes everyone but Christians from being wise. Which resounds accordingly with the old saying "don't take advice from anyone you wouldn't trade places with". I certainly would not trade places with anyone who is unsaved, so why would I ever take advice from anyone who finds the self in such a state? More often than not, a non-Christian or even a baby Christian will not tell you what you need to hear. They will tell you what you want to hear; they will feed your flesh. It is shameful that our reasons for seeking worldly counsel are a byproduct of our self seeking desires. It can reveal our motives and our true heart in an unsettling way. You don't have to be humble or even sincere to ask a worldly man for worldly advice. In my youth, I would often find myself needing Godly counsel from my parents, and not getting it because I did not ask for it. How foolish it is to love your sin enough to be drowned by it. My fear of God did not outweigh my love of sin and unfortunately, it still does not. Any amount of knowledge that I have is trumped by my absolute lack of wisdom. I do fear The Lord, and anyone else can say this all day long. But how do you prove such a statement? I would assume that any continuing sin in your life would prove the contrary.
if you fear The Lord, you will worship Him and you will hate sin. If you do not fear The Lord and love your sin, He will still be worshiped. Just not by you. He is not missing out when we aren't worshipping Him, we are. Not that God is not delighted by our worship, if it is sincere of course, but He doesn't need it. Luke 19: 39-40 "And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Worship is not for God as much as it is for us. It's a life that He has blessed us with, we just have to hate our sin enough to live it.
Application: I lay down sin in my life that I hold onto, not just because I am here at ignite and it is easy to do so. But wherever The Lord takes me.
If the fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom, than such a statement excludes everyone but Christians from being wise. Which resounds accordingly with the old saying "don't take advice from anyone you wouldn't trade places with". I certainly would not trade places with anyone who is unsaved, so why would I ever take advice from anyone who finds the self in such a state? More often than not, a non-Christian or even a baby Christian will not tell you what you need to hear. They will tell you what you want to hear; they will feed your flesh. It is shameful that our reasons for seeking worldly counsel are a byproduct of our self seeking desires. It can reveal our motives and our true heart in an unsettling way. You don't have to be humble or even sincere to ask a worldly man for worldly advice. In my youth, I would often find myself needing Godly counsel from my parents, and not getting it because I did not ask for it. How foolish it is to love your sin enough to be drowned by it. My fear of God did not outweigh my love of sin and unfortunately, it still does not. Any amount of knowledge that I have is trumped by my absolute lack of wisdom. I do fear The Lord, and anyone else can say this all day long. But how do you prove such a statement? I would assume that any continuing sin in your life would prove the contrary.
if you fear The Lord, you will worship Him and you will hate sin. If you do not fear The Lord and love your sin, He will still be worshiped. Just not by you. He is not missing out when we aren't worshipping Him, we are. Not that God is not delighted by our worship, if it is sincere of course, but He doesn't need it. Luke 19: 39-40 "And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Worship is not for God as much as it is for us. It's a life that He has blessed us with, we just have to hate our sin enough to live it.
Application: I lay down sin in my life that I hold onto, not just because I am here at ignite and it is easy to do so. But wherever The Lord takes me.
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