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New Clothes (Proverbs 9:10)
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Proverbs 9:10[/perfectpullquote] Recently, my son and I were looking for a movie to watch when we came across “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” It is a story written by Hans Christian Andersen that I read as a child and this is one of those stories that stuck out in my mind, and so we decided to watch it.For those of you who are unfamiliar with this story, allow me to share.
The Emperor wants new clothes so he can impress the people around him, because he wants their adoration. He hires these two weavers, who are actually con artists, to sew for him clothes made out of special cloth that can only be seen by those who are worthy of their position. Fools cannot see this special material. So, the weavers pretend to weave the fabric out of gold, silver, jewels, and gems and when they finally present the “new clothes” to the Emperor, he goes along with it because he does not want to admit that he is a fool and not worthy of his position. Of course, everyone else also goes along with it, and the Emperor decides to have a parade to show off his new clothes. During the parade, a child cries out that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes and finally everyone admits that the Emperor was swindled.
While this is a made up story which has numerous translations and retellings, the lesson to be learned is clear: when we are afraid of what others think of us, we can end up making some very foolish decisions. Have you ever made a foolish decision following the crowd and trying to be liked? I know I have, more times than I would like to admit.
When we read Proverbs 9:10, we are reminded that we are to fear the Lord and not those around us if we are to gain wisdom. What does “the fear of the Lord” mean? Does it mean that we need to be scared of Him and try to hide from Him like we would from a person who is trying to hurt us? Does it mean that we fear Him because of His awesome power as Creator of the universe and all that is in it? The fear of the Lord is the latter one. When we fear the Lord, honor Him, and try to please Him, we will have wisdom beyond compare. Learning more about God and studying His Word will give insight only His followers can have.
Whom do you fear? What do you base your decisions on? Do you choose this or that so that those around you will be impressed and like you? Or, do you make decisions based on God’s Word even though people around you will likely distance themselves from you? As a Christian, we should not fear people, but instead fear the Lord. Our desire should be to glorify and honor Him because of who He is. Make that your goal today and every day. If you do, you will never be the fool.
– Pastor David Guenin
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