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Parenting by the Book

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Study 9

STUDY 9

Text: Proverbs 1:7
26 August 2001

THE CONCEPT OF “THE FEAR OF THE LORD”

Dear Parents,

WHAT IS “THE FEAR OF THE LORD?”
What exactly is “The Fear of the LORD”? This phrase is mentioned several times in the Book of Proverbs. It is also a phrase mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures. Job was described as one who “feared God” (Job 1:1, 8, 2:3). His fear of God was greatly esteemed!

The word “fear” must be given due consideration. This word may also be substituted by the words, “awe” or “reverence”. For practical purposes, we may define the “fear of the LORD” as a healthy and conscious reverence for the Name of God.

The person who fears the Lord is one who practises the consciousness of God in his daily life. He is aware of what God approves of and what God disdains. He seeks to consciously sense the presence of the Lord in all he does.

“THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE” PROVERBS 1:7
Knowledge is a worthy goal in life. It is always good to increase one’s knowledge in life. Ignorance is to be frowned upon.

“The fear of the LORD” is also knowledge that must be garnered. In fact, the fear of the Lord is to be placed at the “beginning of knowledge”. It is to be placed at the top of the list of all the pieces of knowledge we seek to acquire in life.

A person may desire to acquire knowledge of history, literature, politics, etc. These are not unworthy goals. It is always good to have a fair knowledge of world affairs. But where do we place “the fear of the LORD”? The rightful place of “the fear of the LORD” is at the beginning, or at the head of the list!

MAKE A KNOWLEDGE-LIST YOU WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO ACQUIRE
Do you have a “knowledge-list” for your children? What kind of knowledge do you want your children to acquire? Is the fear of the Lord at the top of the list of subjects? What does your list look like? Hopefully, the knowledge-list would include things like “wisdom”, “character”, and of course, “the fear of the LORD”.

“BUT FOOLS DESPISE WISDOM AND INSTRUCTION” PROVERBS 1:7
The word “fool” in the Book of Proverbs does not describe a person who is mentally or intellectually deficient. This word is a “moral word”. It describes a person who rebels and rejects wisdom and instruction. He denies the need for instruction. He despises any attempt to teach him about the wisdom or about fearing God.

Very often, the Book of Proverbs would use “contrast” to teach a point. In this case here “fools” and “the wise” (though not explicitly stated) are contrasted. Parents would be wise to use the method of “contrasting” concepts to understand the Proverbial statements better. Let us seek to develop a personal practice of the fear of the Lord before attempting to teach our children!

Prayerfully,
Pastor Charlie

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