As a kid I loved pirates. We grew up with a donut place called “Jolly Pirate Donuts,” and my favorite part about their donuts was the cardboard treasure chest that they came in. My brothers and I found pleasure in hiding the treasure chest in the yard and searching for it. There’s something strangely romantic about buried treasure, and it still fascinates me. In many ways we are on a treasure hunt for wisdom. Job suggests all kind of locations for this most desirable of treasures, but it is not found in any of the hidden places. In fact, Job says that wisdom is found in the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is a concept that I have been pondering since my days in college. It’s something that is kind of hard to wrap my mind around, and that is why I appreciate CS Lewis’ description of Aslan in understanding the fear of the Lord. Aslan is the Christ figure in the Chronicles of Narnia, and he is portrayed as a lion. Certainly in the presence of a lion there exists both fear and awe: awe because you realize the magnificent creature standing before you and fear because you realize that the magnificent creature could tear you limb from limb.
I believe when we fear the Lord we come to a realization of who we are in relation to who God is. It’s a realization that we exist for Him and not He for us; that He gives us life and breath and holds the numbers of our days; that He is the One to be worshiped because He is the One who is higher than anyone or anything else. True wisdom comes when we recognize those things.
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