"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
    but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7). 

When I first held our oldest daughter Kayla right after her birth, I trembled. I was afriad of dropping her, hurting her, doing something wrong.

Why? Because she mattered to me a great deal. 

It was not the kind of fear that made me stay away from her. No, I was in awe of this little thing, and loved to watch her grow. 

The same went with our next two daughters. They were precious, special, of utmost importance. 

Not all fear is bad. 

There is a kind of fear that is exhilarating, energizing, and makes us very present to the moment. 

Whether it is gazing in awe at the Grand Canyon, getting on a new roller coaster at Six Flags, or being moved for the 1,000th time by the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, we all can point to moments when our hearts were captivated by awe, reverence and excitement. 

This is the kind of fear Solomon is referring to when he say that the "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." 

It's the kind of fear that sees God as Big. Full of wonder. Awe-inspiring. 

When someone is full of themselves, overly confident in their own abilities, braggadocious or unteachable, we say they have a "big head" or that they are "too big for their britches." 

We use the word "big" because we intrisically know their egos have made them the center of their worlds. 

And this could be true even if they believe in God and know the right things about Jesus. 

The fear of the Lord is about seeing God as BIG. And when He is big, we are small. We are able to see ourselves with a proper perspective. 

More practically for me, the fear of the Lord means:

• I will be more focused on not sinning against my wife during disagreements rather than convincing her I am right.
• I will make decisions for church based on what honors God rather than what pleases people. 
• I will discipline my kids even if they don’t like me for a few hours. 
• I will be gentle with my kids even if I'm angry at them. 
• I will read Scripture slowly and it will move me, instead of flipping through it like I'm scrolling facebook. 

Every proverb we read in this study requires us to have a holy fear of the Lord in order to apply it.

Take, for example, the one we see later in this chapter in v. 19: 

“Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it" (Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭19). ‬ ‭

The fear of the Lord will keep us honest, and honesty will protect us from cutting corners and shady business dealings - practices that are not only immoral but will end up stealing our joy down the road. 

Lord, help us to have a big view of you today. Help me to tremble at your word. Help me to see your grandeur when I look at the sky, the ocean, the sun, and every other part of creation. Help us to make your commandmenets weightier than any other advice we get in this world.