Danny Fourie

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge … Proverbs 1:7

Everyone who takes God into account in daily life, is truly knowledgeable (wise). Through this wisdom life reaches its goal – and this goal is in God. A good brain is a blessing, but when it is not employed by this goal, it can become a curse. Power and strength can be a blessing, but when it is not serving this goal, it causes death and destruction. A doctor can be capable, but there is a point where he or she can go no further, but comes up against a wall of inaccessibility. The deepest mystery of life and death remains unattainable for the most learned, but becomes understandable for the simplest believer who lives by the Word of God.

In Proverbs, the wise and the foolish face each other. Who are the foolish? Are they people with ten thumbs? Are they incapable of counting to ten? No. A fool can be an extremely capable person, but he or she is someone who does not take God into account. A fool experiences the law of God as a yoke that oppresses. Fools make their own laws and norms.

From within ourselves all people are fools (unwise).  Luckily when we realise it and confess our foolishness as guilt, then we can be cured. The doors of God’s school of learning are always open – even today. It invites us to come in. Start to read the Bible. Make it personal and prayerfully receive the blessing of the Lord.

Maybe you do not engage in reading the Bible any more or you only read when you get to it. Start by doing it differently. In this way, as He did with Solomon, God wants to give you some of his wisdom and knowledge. When people receive some of this wisdom they cannot keep it to themselves. True wisdom brings a generosity. Wise people cannot do otherwise but witness.

A huge task awaits us in this day and age; to share the wisdom of God to the world –a world filled with foolishness.

Prayer: Help us Lord to understand that your wisdom is not a yoke on our shoulders. Thank you that we can live by your wisdom and knowledge – in spite of a world full of foolishness.  Amen