Knowledge

I've had this word knowledge on my mind for some time. Knowledge is acts or skills learned through experience or education. We all HAVE knowledge of different things. We all learn at different levels. We all WANT to know different things. That's what makes us unique.

I don't like football......however my husband and my kids LoVE football.....especially EAGLES football. They have great knowledge in football. I don't and have really no desire to learn about it. I'm being honest when I say I love spending time with my family but spending time with them watching football isn't a good time for me. You get the point I'm making. We all have things we want to learn. On the flip side.....I love my ER job. However when I talk of bloody messes or not so pleasant things or use medical terms......my family tells me to stop talking. They don't have as much knowledge of these things and don't want to hear about them at the dinner table. I understand that.

I was reading Proverbs 1 the other day. Verse 7 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Now when it talks of the fear of the Lord....it means respect. We respect God and His Word and when we do this we begin to have knowledge about Him. We gain knowledge of Him so we can be sanctified ( become more like Jesus). My study Bible has a great progression of this idea in the notes.
1. We are taught about God.
Who first taught you about God?  My mom told me about God when I was little. She took me to VBS when I was young to be taught about Him. Think of Sunday school teachers, pastors, elders, mentors, etc. that teach us about God. Being taught about God should never stop no matter our age or maturity in Christ.
2. We learn about God.
Once we get teaching we can learn about God. We learn in different ways. I am a visual learner. I have to see things and look at them for myself for it to make sense. Some are audible learners and can learn well by hearing. We should need both to learn. The Bible tells those that have ears to let them hear. We need to be open to God and what we can learn about Him from others.
3. We fear (respect) God.
We respect a holy God because He is God. We shouldn't need any reason to respect our creator. He's God and that should be enough.....but He wants us to have knowledge about Him, His creation, His son, His ways.....so we can love Him more And serve Him better.
4. We know God.
We won't fully know God until we get to heaven. In the meantime He's left His Word for us to know Him. He expects us to know what it says. He wants us to know it and tell others about Him and the gospel of Jesus. If we never open His Word or read and grow...how can we teach others or tell them about God?
5. We imitate Gods wisdom.
The second part of this verse tells us fools despise wisdom and instruction. Being a fool is the opposite of God and how He expects us to be. We should want to know all we can about our God. I have found that I love to learn about God. I read anything I can get my hands on so I can learn more. I have sought out people who can help me learn and grow. I have made new friends recently to show me and help me in my walk to have more knowledge. Having wisdom like God is that we put the knowledge we have to good use. We gain knowledge to help others learn. We in turn can be wise and not fools.

" The fear of the Lord is a state of mind in which one's own attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals are exchanged for God's" ~~John MacArthur
This quote is beautiful. It sums up everything and it comes full circle yet again. We get knowledge and can fear our God all for His glory. Everything we do is for His glory. And to think he left His book for us to know Him in an intimate way.....that he gave us great teachers and leaders to teach us.....and people to encourage us while we pray and ask him for guidance! How can you not want to learn all you can? What an amazing God we serve!