Proverbs 1:7

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge... (NIV)

The fear of the Lord, not knowledge of God or divine inspiration. Not holiness or time spent in worship. Fear of the Lord. I figure this is the kind of fear that I had of teachers when I was in school. If I did my homework, paid attention in class and respected them, then everything would be fine. But if I didn't do this, then I'd be in strife.

It's different with God of course. The teacher was doing a job, but God has made us his children. So it's more like the fear of Dad. I know lots of kids have really valid reasons to be terrified of their fathers, so for them maybe the favourite teacher analogy works better.

So how is this the beginning of wisdom? I think about my own kids here, and I know that if they don't have a healthy respect for when I need to correct them, then they're going to get into all sorts of trouble. I guess Lesson #1 is to understand that the creator of the universe probably knows best (even better than Dad!).