Fear and wisdom

Some cars drive past our church at ridiculous speeds. If it's you, please stop.
I'd like to say that I am talking about skilful drivers but a couple of recent accidents suggest otherwise.
If I could, I'd like to give these people just a little bit of fear, not enough to stop them from driving, just enough to persuade them to drive a bit more carefully.
The ancient scriptures say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Without a healthy fear of God we will be like the people who career down Mills Hill Road. There's a lot more to wisdom than fear, but fear is the healthy starting point.
​The Bible is full of frightening stories: terror at an empty tomb, someone hiding his face because he was afraid to look at God, someone else talking gibberish because he was so frightened. The list of examples seems almost endless. These people move quickly through the fear but they are changed in the process. They learn to listen to God. They become wiser.
The book of Proverbs tells us to search for wisdom so that we will understand the fear of the Lord. This means that we focus on Jesus Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. The one who delighted in the fear of the Lord.
​More on Sunday ....