Two weeks ago, about 175 college students went on a mission trip to NO to help clean up homes damaged by Katrina. Among the moldy papers and plaster board, students discovered a wad of money of $100 bills. There was more than $30,000.

The woman who lives in the house did not know anything about the money. Later it was concluded that the woman's father who grew up during the Depression, must have been the one hiding the money without telling anyone in the family before he died.

Evelyn Adams, a twice lottery winner in 1985, 1986, won a total of $5.4 million. Today the money is all gone and she lives in a trailer. William "Bud" Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but now lives on $450 a month plus food stamps. Janite Lee won $18 million in 1993 and eight years later, she filed for bankruptcy with only $700 left in two bank accounts and no cash on hand.

Don't we all need wisdom in life? We need wisdom not only on money matters but also in relationship and professional choices. J.I. Packer says that wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. Or in Doug Larson's words; wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have preferred to talk. Wisdom is not directly proportional to the amount of knowledge we have. We have seen individuals with little learning but great wisdom. On the other hand, there're people with great learning and knowledge, yet with little wisdom in life choices. Wisdom is knowing what to do with the knowledge we have.

During this past few weeks we learned that we are to grow as Jesus did. In Luke 2:52, " And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man." Jesus grew in wisdom.

The scripture does not provide us with an exact definition of this word, 'wisdom'. However this 'wisdom' theme was evident throughout the Bible. Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes are known as the wisdom literature. In the scriptures, Wisdom is associated with knowing when to be silent, insight, humility, discernment, understanding, purity, peaceful, gentleness, mercy, open to reason, impartial, godliness and sincere. It is a quality to be developed and cultivated. How so?

Proverbs 9:10, " 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." How can we begin to acquire wisdom? Fear the Lord; fear God.

The fear of God is a repeated theme in the scriptures. Deut 5:29, " 29 Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, …!" Psalm 86:11, " 11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name." Jeremiah 32:39-40, " 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me." Ephesians 5:21, " 21 submitting to one another out of reverence (fear) for Christ." 1 Peter 2:17; " 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." From these passages, it is evident that not only are we to fear God, but this fear also embodies respect for and obedience to God. God wants us to fear him, so we can gain wisdom.

Many of us associate fear with dreadful and terrifying events. It is like the TV show “The Fear Factor”; getting into a tub full of snakes or cockroaches; or meeting Jack Baur in 24. It is also like being in the presence of a very strict and authoritative person, creating a sense of awe and terrifying feeling within. This dreadful feeling causes us to do the minimum. If the passing grade is 60, then out of this dread, we'll make sure we get 60, just to get by. But there is more to this.

Exodus 20:20, " 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin." Moses told Israelites to fear God because the holy one was among them.

Psalm 130:4, " 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared." When we put these two passages together, we have this picture. In the presence of this holy God, all we see is our sins and filth. We only deserve his wrath. Yet, He unconditionally loves us and forgives our sins. Why are we to fear God? We fear God; we respect and obey Him because of his love and his forgiveness.

Let's take at look at one incident in Peter's life. After Jesus' arrest, Peter followed him to the court yard where he was held. Within several hours, Peter denied 3 times that he ever knew Jesus. Then the rooster crowed. Luke tells us, 22:61-62, " 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the Lord saying him, how he had said to him, "“Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.”" 62 And he went out and wept bitterly." Yes, Peter remembered that Jesus had told him about his denial. But there is more to this. Luke 22:31-32, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat," 32 "but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”" Besides the prediction of Peter's denial, Jesus also said that he would pray so that Peter's faith would not fail because of this denial. And that after Peter had returned, he stood up again, he was to strengthen and help others. You see, even in his final hours, Jesus was concerned about Peter's well being. Peter remembered these loving words, and he went out and cried bitterly. Many years later, in his epistle, he wrote, "….. Fear the Lord…." We fear God because of his love and forgiveness.

How can we develop this fear of God? We are to come back to the cross. The cross is where God's righteousness and love meet. The cross, the symbol of death and cruelty has now turned into a symbol of God's love. On this cross, all my sins and the punishment due me are placed on Jesus Christ. Whenever I come to the cross, I see God's righteousness and love for me. This love causes me to want to fear him; to respect and obey him. For this reason, we are to keeping coming back to the cross.

We've learned that the road to wisdom is through fearing God. This fear is motivated and caused by a loving God. Now, let us take a closer look at what some consequences of fearing God are.

Numbers 21:34, " 34 But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land.” When the Israelites feared God, they would not fear their enemies. Philippians 1:28, " 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents…." When we fear God, it will remove our fear of adversities and those who are hostile and unfriendly towards us.

Hebrews 11:7, " 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. " What did Noah do? Out of faith and fear of God, he obeyed God and built the ark. Think of the ridicule from people, poking fun at him saying, "Look, what a fool, building a huge ark when there is no sign of rain." He obeyed God because of his fear for God. Exodus 1:15-17, " 15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, ….. 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live." Pharaoh told the midwives to kill the male babies. The midwives refused to obey Pharaoh, instead they obeyed God. Why? Because they feared God. Deut 8:6, " 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him." Moses summarized well, because of the fear of God, keep the commandments."

You see, when we fear this loving and holy God, we will want to respect and obey him.

Exodus 20:20, “ 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 2 Corinthians 7:1, “ Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” The fear of God motivates us to be obedient to Him. One aspect of this obedience is to turn away from sin.

Isn't it true, when there is no fear of God within, we will fear no man. Without the fear of God, no matter how many accountability groups we may have, it will not stop us from sinning. It is the fear of God that will motivate us to stay away from sin. “

Nehemiah 5:15, " 15 The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration of forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God." This is an interesting passage, isn't it? Nehemiah was reporting that previous governors and their servants mistreated the people by adding financial burdens and treating them with hardship. When Nehemiah became the governor; he had all the authority and precedent to cause hardship on these people but he did not do it. Why? Because he feared God. It is like what Peter wrote about the work of the elders. Elders are not to be greedy for money, not lording over the people but to be their examples.

How can we continue to develop and increase this fear of God? How can we increase this fear of God to increase wisdom? We are to learn to think great thoughts about God. What is our God like? If our God is one who satisfies my need, accomplish what I want him to do for me. Then, this God is just as big as I am. This is very pitiful, right? AS JB Phillips wrote a book years ago, “Your God is Too Small". Instead we need to learn to think great things about God. How so?

• Think of how God has chosen us. In my SS preparation on the book of Romans, I am once again brought to the awareness that all have sinned against God. There is not even one single righteous person. Therefore we are all under God's wrath. However, of all the people, God has chosen me. He called and chose me to be his child. He took the initiative to die for me on the cross and suffered the wrath of God that was due me. When I put my faith in Jesus Christ, God considered me as righteous. This is a thought that is simply too great for anyone to comprehend. It is like the three children in Narnia. They can't fathom why Aslan would die for Edmond to rescue him from the power of the white witch.

• Think of God's providence in life. There was a time in life; we felt that we were making all those important decision. We thought we were controlling our directions and destinies. We might have even congratulated ourselves for having arrived at where we are today. However, if we take a second look, isn't it true that it was all God's providence? When we turn around and take a second look, we'll see that his finger prints are all over our lives. No matter how smart and capable we are, we could not have planned and directed such a script for our lives.

So, what did the students do with the $30,000 in New Orleans ? They promptly handed it over to the police. One said, “It never occurred to us to keep the money.” This is the right choice and it requires wisdom to make such a decision.

I also think of a young man facing a career decision several weeks ago. He had received two offers on the same day. One job fits his education and training. The other fits his personality and heart's desire. The first offer probably pays him 3 to 4 times more than the second offer. So which one should he take? To many, that is a no brainer. However, he accepted the second offer. To some, it is a stupid decision; but to make such a decision requires great wisdom.

We have plenty of knowledge among us; but how about wisdom? Wisdom is not a degree we can acquire. It takes time to develop wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.

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