Proverbs 10

The fear of the Lord, this will be my pillar of wisdom for today. As such, my aim is to act in complete respect of God and to behave in all ways so as not to offend. The fear of the Lord is a fear of the known and will fill me with strength and confidence for I have been provided boundaries within to act. This is not the fear of the unknown which has the power to debilitate, but in fact provides me with the power to act. (For more discourse on this topic, see my earlier post on Proverbs 1)

When I truly live in fear of the Lord, when I behave with awe and reverence for our creator, then I will truly walk in a right relationship with God; I will be able to count myself among the righteous. And we see clearly here in chapter 10 of Proverbs the benefits of being counted among the righteous. Those who are righteous (or wise) will

• Bring joy and life into the world
• Be cared for and blessed
• Be secure in their dealings with the world
• Provide for their neighbor

The righteous are

• Honest
• Diligent
• Receptive
• Loving
• Educated
• Disciplined

Many of the above traits are given mouth service by our generation as being positive aspects of a man's character. However, when I turn to our leaders, whether in business, politics, or community, the opposite of these characteristics are at the forefront of their behavior.  We must truly take note of God's promise here. Proverbs 10 clearly outlines the benefits bestowed upon the righteous and the detriments awarded to the immoral. Though we may find numerous examples to the contrary, dishonest men making fortunes hand over fist, the sloth who is served on hand and foot, the fool who runs a country (oops, are my political feathers showing), though we are bombarded day and night by stories of unscrupulous people succeeding in the world we must stand firm that in the limit God's promise is right and true. I don't mean this in some far off heaven explanation of God's promise. I mean that we will reap the benefits of right living here in our lifetime, but don't be surprised if the glory looks very different from what you envisioned - God has an awesome way of providing us with exactly what we need :)

Peace and may the fear of the Lord be your pillar of wisdom.