‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments’ (Psalm 111:10). The beginning of wisdom, the first evidence that God is working in the heart, is a new reverence for God. Previously we were careless about what he thought of us. Now we see something of his sovereign rule over creation, his irresistible power over us. He is no longer a God to be taken lightly. How could we have treated him as we did, and how can such great offences ever be overlooked? We have now seen God’s holiness, and we see how out of kilter the world is which does not credit him with his glory.
The verse from the psalms tells us that the fear of the Lord leads inevitably to obedience, and that is obedience from the heart which involves our whole inner being. We are aware of our own thoughts and motives, and if we see them, how much more does God see them? If therefore we are aware of any insincerity or shallowness in ourselves, we hurry to correct it.