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Want Wisdom's Reward?


 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.” (Proverbs 9:10-12)

I’ve said before that wisdom involves understanding reality and dealing with it. If there is a god (and I fully believe that He is) then whether you love him, like him, approve of him, fear him, dislike him, hate him, or could not care less – no matter how you feel about him, it’s just plain wise to deal well with reality as he created it. It really does you no good to say, “No, I’m not going to obey the law of gravity.” It would be foolish to slice your femoral artery and drain out four quarts of blood with the idea in mind that tomorrow you’re going for a five-mile walk. I submit to you it would be pure folly to announce, “short cut!” and drive your car into the side of a mountain at a hundred and twenty miles-per-hour with your spouse beside you and your kids in the back seat. These things are pretty obvious to most of us. 
I believe that not doing the things I mentioned is a form of fearing the Lord. It’s dealing with reality as it is, and that is the beginning of wisdom. One of the things Prof. Del Tackett discussed in The Truth Project[1] is that God is both unified and diverse. His universe reflects that. The very things that people look at and say, “See? Evolution!” another person, like me, can look at and say, “See? God!” Unity and diversity are everywhere. 
And if you deal well with the universe as it is, you are likely to have a much longer, more rewarding life than if you mock gravity, biology, physics, or theology.


[1] If you haven’t gone through The Truth Project, you should.  It’s amazing.

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