^{Ps 111:10} The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
       all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
       To him belongs eternal praise.

recently i’ve been praying for wisdom and discernment. i want to grow in my relationship with God into a more mature christian and i want to be able to serve him better! i was reading ps111 this morning on the way to work and it just hit me - i don’t really fear God.

growing up in a christian family and being churched all my life has been an awesome thing in a lot of ways, but i think that i’ve been in danger of becoming too comfortable with God - familiarity breeds contempt, or at least indifference.

if i want wisdom, i need to fear God! that doesn’t mean i have to quake and tremble every time that i think about God, but it does mean that i need to approach him with a lot more awe and reverence.

if i’m aware of God all the time, i will live differently! i will be a lot more focussed on glorifying him in how i live, and i think that would be the beginnings of wisdom…

i came across this link somewhere today, can’t remember where or i’d credit them.. oops! but definitely good reading - it’s something that we ALL need to do before we come to listen to a preacher

Keys for getting the most out of what the preacher says

Jesus said, ‘Therefore consider carefully how you listen’ (Luke 8:18). Here are some cautions and directions, in order to help you hear sermons with profit and advantage.

1. Come to hear them, not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty.

2. Give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God.

3. Do not entertain even the least prejudice against the minister.

4. Be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or think more highly of him than you ought to think.

5. Make particular application to your own hearts of everything that is delivered.

6. Pray to the Lord, before, during, and after every sermon

there’s a bit more to it… follow the link to check it out