A Word For Children
Proverbs 1:7-9
By Harold Dinsmore, M.Div
© 2008Harold Dinsmore.

“The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Verse 7).  The beginning.  What is the beginning?  Usually we understand beginning to be the start, the first, the onset.  That is exactly what the writer of Proverbs is trying to share with us.  The very first step in having knowledge of what really matters is to have a healthy respect for, and awe of, God.  Fear of the Lord is used fourteen times in Proverbs.

            A veritable definition of this occurs in Job 28:28.  Job says, “Behold the fear of the Lord…that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”  Job was such a wise man.  If we are to have knowledge or understanding, we must begin with our personal relationship with God.

Therefore, we must understand that the beginning of knowledge, not the sum or the whole or complete knowledge, not even the chief knowledge, but the beginning of knowledge is the first step in the right direction.  The day you open up to God is the day you begin to realize how much you don’t know and how much God has to give you.