The Way Of Wisdom

Fear of the Lord here in this passage and in Job is a holy fear, that is, that it is a fear that holds respect and reverence for God. This sort of fear is right and good; as king David knew saying that it is pure and endures forever (Psalm 19:9).

It is a fear that enables us to respect God’s authority, obey His commandments, and turn away from foolishness and evil. This is what is at the heart of godly wisdom.

It is such a fear of the Lord that will then stop us short of saying something foolish or something that we’ll regret later. It is such wisdom that will direct our course in life taking us in the direction of God to fulfill His Kingdom purposes, which will actually turn out to be our own.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV)

Ways of Wisdom

What are the ways of wisdom that God has given that enables us to fear Him in a right way where our lives will change and we will trust in Him more than in ourselves, and where He will set our feet upon the straight and narrow path. ?

1. God’s Roadmap – The Bible

The Bible is God’s roadmap for our journey.

Now, this isn’t like MapQuest where we input our coordinates and out pops a set of directions. In this life we can’t just enter our point of departure and our destination and get detailed instructions on how to get there. Because when we get right down to it, there are the inevitables of life that put up roadblocks and detours.

These inevitables involve sicknesses, job layoffs or firings, marriage, divorce, children and the changes that come afterwards, and the list just goes on. Inevitables are those things that we have no control over, neither do we choose them, but they still happen. It’s the stuff that just happens in life and there’s nothing we can do to change it.

But God has given us a road map that will successfully take us, not only through this life, but show us how to enter into heaven once this life is over. But, way too often we approach the Bible like MapQuest. Instead of careful study, we open it up and put our finger on a verse and see what God has for us.

But this doesn’t work that well. One person tried this technique and his finger landed on Matthew 27:5 that says that Judas went out and hanged himself. Not wanting such a fate, he then opened the Bible again and his finger landed on Luke 10:37 where Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

But God has given us His word, and since it is His word we should take the time necessary and carefully search out His treasure and His ways. I love what some have called the Bible, and that is, God’s love letter to us. And that’s because it reflects God’s heart, and the stories and teachings that are contained within it reveal God’s heart towards us, and what God values.

And so if we want to grow in God’s wisdom we need to get into the Bible so that the Bible, God’s roadmap, can get into us. And the goal is to be transformed through the renewing of our minds, as Paul said in Ephesians 4:23. When this happens we’ll be less conformed to the world, and more transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, that is, we’ll be more like Him and less like our own bad selves.