Chief Lesson from the book of Proverbs

My sister in law and her husband celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary recently. In the thanksgiving meeting, the invitees were asked to tell one thing about each of them that had touched their heart or something they had learned from their life. One person had this to say about her husband which made a lot of sense to me. It seems this friend asked him about the advice he had given his daughter when she was going away to BITS, Pilani. The advice given by the father to his daughter was: ‘Always fear to commit sin. Do not fear anything else'. What a remarkable advice! Not only to a seventeen-year-old, I believe, it is sound advice to all of us across all age groups!

The three wisdom books of the Old Testament, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job offer three different perspectives on how to live well in God's good world. The book of Proverbs promotes a life of virtue and ‘fear of the Lord'. All of us want to live ‘wisely' in this world and the book of Proverbs points to the source of that wisdom – the fear of the Lord.

What is this ‘fear of the Lord'?

The fear of the Lord is fearing to commit sin. Lord Jesus is not one who goes around looking for an opportunity to punish us. We should understand that by sinning we hurt Jesus again and we should fear that. The Bible says in Proverbs 3:7, "Fear the LORD and depart from evil". Thus, the true ‘fear of the Lord' should keep us from sin! The pleasures of sin are very enticing. Unless we are careful, anyone can fall. The Bible says in Gen 4:7, "…sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." We may fall but we should never allow sin to rule over us. Only a healthy fear of the Lord resulting in actual fear to commit sin - walk in the way of sinners, associate with those who indulge in sinful pleasures, knowingly participate unethical activities - will keep us safe in this world.

My friend, it is good to read one chapter from the book of Proverbs every day. Do not just read it; read, meditate and hide the words of wisdom in your heart and that will help you to fear God and shun evil.

Categories: Weekly DevotionalsAuthor: Hephzibah StephenDate: 3rd September 2018 Share: newsletterDisplay date: 4th September 2018

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