Daily Devotional
A Dose of Wisdom
By Leah Adams
Guest Writer
CBN.com
– “If you really want to gain knowledge, you have to begin by having respect for the Lord. But foolish people hate wisdom and training.” (Proverbs 1:7, NIRV)
The Hebrew word used here for fear suggests reverence and awe. A person seeking wisdom is willing to bow down to God simply because of the awe and respect they feel for Him. This phrase also suggests total dependence on God.
I am reminded of my relationship with my earthly father. My Daddy was a wonderful man whom I loved with all my heart and respected so much. He was the perfect example of a godly father. Highly respected in our community, he was a fair and wise man. Yet I knew my boundaries with him. I had a proper fear of him. Not the kind born of bad experience (unless you would call the holy discipline of spanking ‘bad’), but rather awe and respect for him. I loved him with all my heart and desired to please him. This is the ‘fear’ of which the Bible speaks.
Our culture does not teach this kind of fear or respect, therefore, it is a concept many people do not fully understand. Respect means that I trust the other person and esteem them, or hold them in high regard. It also means that I am willing to be submissive to another person. Oh yes, the 'S' word--submit. To respect another causes one to desire to please that person and perhaps even emulate them.
As Proverbs 1:7 tells us, a fool does not feel the need to respect God and therefore lacks the wisdom and knowledge that comes only from God. In fact, the fool chooses to go the opposite direction from wisdom.
I like this quote from Walter Lippman:
"It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf."
The fool is like a deaf audience. He has no way to gain wisdom because he doesn’t understand or respect the way to wisdom, which is the Lord. The fool refuses to submit to God because he doesn't trust God.
When I fear the Lord and walk before Him in respect, He makes me so much wiser than I should be. Really, I am a blonde underneath the Miss Clairol on my head, so sometimes I am stunned by the wisdom that God gives me.
I don’t want to be a fool!
How about you?
Let’s learn to respect, trust and submit to God in order to get a dose of WISDOM.
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Printed with permission, Leah Adams © 2010
Leah describes herself as the “prodigal son’s sister” after spending several years walking far from the Lord in her twenties. Returning to the Lord after that season of sin offered Leah new insight into the true meaning of grace. In a works-based and failure-prone society, grace is a concept that many people have difficulty grasping. The passion of her heart is helping others understand the grace that is offered by Jesus to anyone who will accept it. Through The Point Ministries, Leah’s speaking and writing ministry, she seeks to point others to Jesus and his amazing grace through the study of God’s Word.
An anointed author, speaker and communicator, Leah lives in northern Georgia with her husband, Greg. She enjoys cooking, reading, camping and sharing a cup of coffee with a friend. Leah holds a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from Mercer University School of Pharmacy and is a CLASS certified speaker. She is a regular contributor at CBN.com, JournEzine and Internet Café Devotions. Her first bible study, From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy was published in the fall of 2010. To learn more about Leah’s ministry or to book her to speak at your event, please visit her website at www.leahadams.org. Send Leah your comments
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