“Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7
Every time he preached he spoke with so much authority and power. He was extremely black and white and his preaching showed that loud and clear. I remember this day like it was yesterday, it was a day you could say I literally had the fear of God put in me.
He began preaching from the book of Revelation and as I sat there and listened it was these very words that penetrated to the core of my heart. “If you don’t start living in obedience to the Lord, if you don’t give your life fully over to Him, if you don’t confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior you will end up in hell! Hell is a place where you will burn everyday of your life for the res t of your life and you will hear the cries of all the others burning with you. You will be separated from your loved ones. On the day the Lord returns you will either rise with Him to Heaven or will be sent to Hell for eternity.”
What! Here I am a little girl in middle school and I just heard that if I don’t straighten up I could be separated from my mommy and daddy and go to Hell. I was terrified, intrigued, scared, more intrigued, and had just enough understanding to know that Jesus was the way the truth and the life. But on that day that beautiful summer day I knew that my life needed to change and I needed to surrender myself to Him.
You might be thinking good grief that is rough, but can I tell you that man, Devin who still to this day loves the Lord with every breath that he takes opened my eyes to see Jesus. He is a man that I admire so much and adore and love. He is a man that speaks with truth and power and authority. He sugar coats nothing!
Number 8 on our list of things to crave-Knowledge
That very day I gave my life to the Lord was the day that God used Devin Bridwell to teach me the true meaning of knowledge. He taught me that it begins with fear of the Lord, and not fear as in being afraid of, but fear as in respecting the power and the authority of God. He taught me just how much Jesus loves me; He loves me so much that He came to rescue me from the pit of Hell.
In our passage above Solomon is telling us that we must become intimately familiar with Jesus, we must recognize His power, we must acknowledge Him as Creator and Ruler, Lover and Savior. It is more than just knowing what we have been told; it is discovering Him for ourselves.
That day many years ago was the first day I knew I wanted to discover more about Jesus. I wanted to become more knowledgeable about our Risen King. I want to honor Him, respect Him, and be more in awe of Him than I already am. I want to gain more knowledge and facts of His Word and then apply them through Wisdom!
Knowledge is learning the facts and the only true facts about Jesus come from the Word of God. Your knowledge will be based upon how much time you spend in learning!
Prayer: Jesus thank you for sending people into our lives to teach us more about You and to challenge us to grow in knowledge of You. May our understanding of You become even more clear as we dig deep into Your word. May our fear of You become even greater than before! In Jesus name, Amen.
