Note: Today's lesson illustrates the foolishness of this world from a recent encounter I had on Saturday. This makes the message longer.The teaching begins at Back to our study.

Message summary: Today we need to heed the timelessly true Proverb, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  We need to be aware that, “The rejection of the Lord is the beginning of foolishness".

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“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10).

We are in a series on the book of Proverbs in our church and the sermons each week are coordinated with the various other studies in the church. Yesterday I had the opportunity to teach our Crossroads class and had a fresh experience to illustrate the key verse in Proverbs: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

"Woke", a word that for most of my life meant "not asleep", has come to have an additional meaning these last 10 or 20 years, essentially conveying crazy new notions of reality. "Woke" is essentially a new manifestation of an ancient condition: the foolishness of this world.

We have read many stories about how this woke virus has impacted people. The other day (and again this morning) I watched a tearful father in a school board meeting share how his daughter's school groomed her and convinced her that she was a trans, without his knowledge or input. This is sheer evil in its vilest form.

But I don’t personally deal with encounter “woke” nonsense very much. The companies we serve as business chaplains are based (not woke) as are most of our friends, family and associates, including our Crossroads class. But I do have a few friends and family members who have the woke virus and their diametrically opposed views can cause stress in their relationships. We've heard personal stories of family members who have cut off other members of their family due to this, even their own parents.

But one place we personally encounter wokeness is when we donate blood. Several years ago it was also when I was receiving medical care but it seems this has lessened the last couple of years. (When medical care gets woke you sure question competency!)

For over 50 years since (high school) Brooksyne and I have both been blood donors. Early on it was before we knew each other but now for many, many years we go together to donate blood. For the last 24 years we give at a bloodmobile bus parked in front of a local hardware store (actually this last Saturday they brought three).

The process begins at a table in the store where you get a brief exam and the paperwork. Then you go out to the bus where you step into a tiny confessional where a worker asks you very personal questions with a reasonable goal of protecting the blood supply. Quite a number of these questions are related to the prevalence of sexual immorality and drug use. It's an awkward and embarrassing list of questions, but at least they make some sense medically.

But the last several years they've asked a question that is so bizarre, if you've not encountered it, you're going to think I'm making this up. I'm not. The screener asks me, "Are you pregnant?"

I responded, "I'm not going to answer that question, I'm a 70 year old male." Surely she knows males don't get pregnant even if they are young. I threw her off when I responded as I did. She got up and got her supervisor who came in and informed me that I must answer the question. I refused to bow to an idol of wokeness and got up and left.

Back to our study. Proverbs 1:7 states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

In light of my experience at the bloodmobile earlier in the day as I did final preparation for my lesson Saturday night I considered the verse above. It can also be expressed as an opposing truth, “The rejection of the Lord is the beginning of foolishness; fools despise wisdom and instruction”.

In Paul's majestic scope of the human condition in Romans 1 he writes, “For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).

Today we need to heed the timelessly true Proverb, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  We need to be aware that, “The rejection of the Lord is the beginning of foolishness".

Here are two other very similar verses to muse on:

1) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10).

2) “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey His commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise Him forever!” (Psalm 111:10).

Regardless of where we live, we encounter the secularized “wisdom” that prevails in our “postmodern” culture. This “wisdom” is now rampant in our culture and is impacting many Christian colleges and churches who are forsaking the wisdom of God for the wisdom of the world. Sometimes my head spins as I see the rapid decline and the accumulative effect of years of living according to the ever-changing human philosophies of this world.

We must heed the Scriptural warning, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19).  The Apostle Paul is saying that wisdom from a worldly standpoint is foolishness to God, who is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Human based wisdom does not form a bedrock foundation of genuine truth.

I want to know the ways of God, who is all-wise so that I recognize this foolishness, even though the world through academia, political, cultural, or even the many entrenched religious circles may be saying it’s wise. My heart is gripped this morning by a rather obscure statement from Daniel. “He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning” (Daniel 2:21). Amen, may God give us this wisdom and discernment today!

I want to continue to grow in my understanding of God’s ways.  And that begins when I recognize that ultimately all wisdom apart from God is foolishness. This day join me in seeking to know the Lord and His ways better!

Be encouraged today!  Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber