As we discussed in the intro, Proverbs is really broken into 2 major sections, chapters 1-9 about fearing the Lord, and chapters 10-29 filled with wisdom sayings and ideas.  As we start reading this morning, there are 3 high-level ideas that really jump out at me.

First, we bump into this main idea of this first section of Proverbs  right up front here in verse 7:

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Fear of the Lord...what is that exactly?  According to my study Bible,  while “fear” can describe terror or dread in our vernacular, the Old Testament use of the word “fear” often indicates awe or reverence.  To fear God is to express loyalty to Him and faithfulness to His covenant.  Those who fear God exhibit trust in Him and obedience to His commandments.  According to the OT, those who fear God obtain God’s protection, wisdom, and blessing.  Another way to think about it might be under the term of authority - to fear is to give authority to...if you fear God, you give Him authority over your decisions, your actions; your life.

Another idea, the second one that is introduced here in chapter one, and to which we will refer is this idea of wisdom being like a path.  It isn’t just a decision, but a path down which we travel.  Living in wisdom is accumulating good decisions that lead in the direction of right living.  Two steps forward and one step back is still moving in the right direction - and frankly, that’s about as good as most of us can do!  That’s what this is about, building a body of work that ultimately moves us closer to aligning with a life of wisdom.

The last overarching idea that I get from this chapter is this idea that wisdom is calling out to us...it is seeking us, as we should be seeking her.  Wisdom isn’t hard to find; it’s cost is simply humility.  We must have the humility to feel the NEED for wisdom...that’s the only cost.  If we don’t feel as though we need wisdom, we can’t see it.  As such, we have to force ourselves to remain humble.  We have to remind ourselves that we ARE in need, that we don’t have all of the answers...this really pairs very well with this idea of fearing the Lord; if God has authority over my life, then I can’t help but to be humble, because I am not in charge.  This is a skill that we develop and hone over the course of our lives; humility is an integral part of wisdom.

There is so much in chapter one...it is so good, and it is really the framing of what’s to come.  For me, in terms of application - when I go to bed tonight, before I put my head down, during this entire study, I am going to ask myself, “On ‘net’, have I taken a step forward in living in wisdom today?”  I am going to have a little reminder each night, before I put my phone on the charger, to think about that as we read through Proverbs together.