Start Smart

Proverbs 1:7 
"Knowledge begins with respect for the Lord, but fools hate wisdom and discipline."
  
Do you know what "Plagiarism" is?
The dictionary says it is "to put forth as original to oneself the ideas and words of another". Imagine how "cheesy" (if not criminal!) it would be to take the credit for something that you did not originate. And yet, people all over the planet are doing that on a moment-by-moment basis, claiming as original their ideas, concepts, theories, and theses, without acknowledging that, in fact, ALL knowledge is derived from a Source that pre-existed them. To have true knowledge, we must ac-knowledge! To be original, you need an origin, and the Bible says that respect for God kick-starts your smarts!

Now, that may ruffle your hair a little bit, to think that the Originator of all things registered His "patents" way before you did, but in order to help us save face, and to not come up looking like fools, God gives us the opportunity to respect Him. Respect is the antonym of familiarity, and saves us from pirating God's ©'s!

My 17 year-old said the other night that, "Familiarity is thinking that you are equal to someone." That's a fresh thought. A good one. Where respect is rooted in humility, so familiarity is rooted in pride. Boy, we could be saved from some presumptuous errors (red-faced, fool-moments) if we simply respected Yahweh. Let's remain humble as we grow in knowledge, and let's not be frauds, parading with pompous self-indulgence the "... ideas and words of Another" as if they were our own. We are not His equal.

Even the collective human intelligence of the planet cannot scratch the surface of God's wisdom and knowledge. In humanity's degeneration, as captured in Romans 1, it says that in, "Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools." And Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" Be careful of being an agnostick, especially if you can't spell the word!

PRAYER:

Dear God, please help me to reverence and respect you as the Originator and Source of all life, wisdom and knowledge. Please forgive me for stealing the credit for stuff that you started. Please be the well-spring and fountain-head of all of my knowledge. I want true intelligence. I choose to START SMART by respecting You. Thank you Lord. Amen.