“KEEP YOUR HEART WITH ALL VIGILANCE”
Jonathan Winn
The engine light. Its presence, when lit up on the dashboard of my car, almost instantly causes my stomach to churn and my blood pressure to rise. When that light goes on nine times out of ten it’s a problem, and that problem means time, money, and hassle. I want so badly to ignore it, to pretend it will just go away on its own, but it’s only a matter of time before my wife or children see it and ask, “What are you going to do about it?”
Keeping our vehicles in good shape is a necessity. They are expensive, and they are necessary in our busy lives that require us to travel several miles every day. A broken-down vehicle places us in an interesting dilemma- we may not be able to afford to fix it, but we also can’t afford to live without it!
Proper maintenance of a vehicle requires discernment in recognizing the signs of an internal problem. Generally speaking, there are three ways we know there’s a problem. First, we might see the problem, as in noticing the engine or other dashboard warning light come on. We might see smoke coming from the hood, or a flat tire. Second, we might hear something. It might be a rattling noise when driving, or a squeal when starting the engine. Third, we might feel something. We start feeling more bumps or shaking while driving and wonder about the suspension or shocks.
Being vigilant about the condition of our vehicle is important, but how much more infinitely important is vigilance over the condition of our souls? If the stakes are high for ignoring the warning signs of a problem with a vehicle which will inevitably be replaced, how much infinitely higher are the stakes for ignoring the warning signs of a problem with our souls?
This brings us to the relevance of our theme at Oak Grove for the 22-23 school year: “Keep your Heart with all Vigilance.” This theme comes from Proverbs 4:23, and the full verse provides further clarity: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” The word “heart” here translated from the original Hebrew word לֵב (pronounced like “lave”) refers to the inner man, the soul, the seat of appetites, emotions, passions, the will, the character. Clearly, it is the source, the fountainhead, from which everything about who we are and what we do, flows.
The Lord Jesus Christ expands on this insight when speaking to his audience about discerning who is a true servant of God:
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:33-34, ESV)
Jesus uses the metaphor of the produce from a fruit tree to explain how to recognize the condition of the heart. Like a tree, you can discern the condition and health of a heart by the quality of what it produces.
Circling back to the vehicle metaphor, I believe that in Jesus’ teachings and throughout Scripture we are given clues for discerning the heart (the condition of our souls) from what we see (our actions), what we hear (our words), and what we feel (our emotions).
For the next three articles, we will take some time to carefully consider each of these clues. Certainly, we cannot afford to ignore these indicators for the condition of our hearts. There’s much more at stake than a broken car- there’s an eternal soul.
“WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO "FEAR THE LORD?"”
Jonathan Winn
“Who is God?” “What is God like?” Have you ever been asked this question by your child? How about a friend or acquaintance? How would you answer it? Consider, this is probably the most loaded question anyone could ever ask! Indeed, how you answer this question reveals the foundation for how you would answer (and see) everything else. Pastor and theologian AW Tozer put it this way: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. ... the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God.”
People will answer the question, “Who is God?” in a variety of ways. For example, some envision God as a vindictive judge, while others see Him as a jolly grandpa or Santa Claus figure. Sadly, many who perceive God in this way are merely grasping at straws, basing their definitions on their subjective ideas, experiences, or the opinions of others. How dangerous it is to be fickle or uncertain in answering this most important question of life! To answer such weighty questions, we must not begin with subjective opinions, but with the most objective and authoritative source possible. In this case, it would be God’s revelation of Himself- in the Bible.
Now, as we ponder our theme: “The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom” we are led to another important question about God- “What does it mean to ‘fear the Lord’?” As with defining who God is, before one just starts asking for opinions on this, we must start with the most authoritative source, the Bible. Therefore, is this concept “the fear of the Lord” defined, or illustrated, in the Bible? Let’s see.
The exact phrase “the fear of the Lord” comes up dozens of times in the Bible, but the concept of fearing God hundreds of times. For the sake of clarity, we will look primarily at where the specific wording can be found and see if we can derive a definition grounded in Scripture.
Hatred of Evil
Proverbs 8:13 “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” This is a straightforward definition. The person who fears the Lord despises what God despises- evil, pride, arrogance, perverted speech, etc. If you tolerate or handle sin casually, you don’t fear the Lord.
Humility and Softness of Heart
Proverbs 28:14: “Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” Proverbs 22:4 “Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.” Again, this is very clear and straightforward- the one who fears the Lord has a high view of God and a lower, subservient view of self. Fearing God is contrasted with having a hardened or proud heart. It should be noted that Biblical humility doesn’t mean a debased, inferior view of self in comparison to others, but in comparison to God. We will revisit this critical virtue of humility in a later post.
Expressed by Obedience
Deuteronomy 10:12-13: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?” Psalm 112:1: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!” One who fears the Lord demonstrates reverence for His word and thus His commands. This person holds God’s words and instructions in high esteem, and their life reflects it in obedient action.
Expressed in Love and Enjoyment of God
Nehemiah 1:11: “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to fear Your name.” 1 John 4:18: “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because He first loved us.” Those who know the Lord realize that He is good and full of lovingkindness. The practice of reverencing Him leads to delight, for one then beholds the goodness and love of God.
Having said all of this, one may still ask, “Why use the word, ‘fear’? Why not say the ‘love’ of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom?” Many have contemplated this, and I would venture to say that the ‘fear,’ not ‘love,’ of God is the necessary starting point for grasping more completely who He is. To understand the enormity of God’s love and goodness, we first need to see those qualities in light of His holiness, and our sin. Paul put it this way in Romans 5:8: “but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s love is most manifested, and thus celebrated, in light of His sacrifice for undeserving sinners.
In conclusion and to further illustrate this point, I invite you to contemplate this helpful illustration from Pastor John Piper:
“I picture myself climbing in the mountains, say the Himalayas. And I’m on these massive rock faces, and I see a storm coming. It is going to be a massive storm, and I feel unbelievably vulnerable on these mountain precipices. And so, I am desperately looking for a little covert in the rock where I won’t be blown off the side of the cliff to destruction. And I find a hole in the side of the mountain, and I spin quickly, and suddenly the holiness, and justice, and power, and wrath, and judgment of God breaks over me like a hurricane, but I know I am totally safe, which means all that horrible danger is transposed into the music of majesty, and I can enjoy it rather than fearing it. And I think that is what the cross is. Jesus died for us to provide a place where we could enjoy the majesty of God with a kind of fear and trembling and reverence and awe, but not a cowering fear.”
In summary, the ‘fear of the Lord’ is cultivated in one’s life to the degree that they behold the awesome splendor of God’s holiness and power, followed by the magnitude of His love and grace, revealed most clearly in the saving work of Jesus Christ.
In the next article, we will see how this understanding of God lays the foundation for all learning and wisdom.
Archived Posts
TRUE GREATNESS
June 05, 2023
What does it mean to be “great?” We often use words like “great” and “good” very casually in our society. We talk about “great meals,” “good news,” and “great people.” Not surprisingly, our casual usage of these terms often belies a lack of a solid or agreed upon definition.
You have likely had conversations with your children, friends, or coworkers about someone or something great. This is a generalization, but in our society at large a great person is often defined in this way as a result of their significant influence, fame, social status, achievements, or perceived success in their vocational arena. If there’s a general consensus among many that someone is “great,” we tend to credit that as the proof needed to establish that claim.
But who really defines greatness? For that matter, who has the right to define anything? In our postmodern society, the typical answer would be that since everyone is entitled to their “own truth,” then what logically flows from that is that anyone can define terms however they want. If you think about that for at least 10 seconds, you can probably see that in the end, this leads to a completely illogical and irrational line of thinking- that words and definitions have no fixed meaning, thus losing their power (and even that very statement itself becomes absurd!).
This is another reason why a Christian and Classical education is so vital. True Classical educators are adamant that there is fixed Truth, there is absolute Reality, there is Beauty and Goodness, and that “the beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms,” as Socrates is famously known for saying. Nevertheless, classical educators, apart from Christ, can only see dimly through general revelation. Followers of Christ have the blessing of direct and specific clarity and definitions, because we know the Source. We see this truth expressed in Colossians 1:16-17:
“For by him [Christ] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Jesus created all and precedes all. He is the Logos, the Word (John 1:1), the defining source of all that is real and known. Jesus elsewhere states clearly that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Thus, Jesus alone has the ultimate prerogative to define terms, and all manmade definitions must be cast into the light of what He has spoken and revealed.
With this in mind, let’s circle back to consider Jesus’ answer to our original question: What does it mean to be great? What is true greatness?
The answer can be found clearly in one of His encounters with His disciples. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record this event. Two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John, approach Jesus with a bold request: They want the seats of highest honor and prestige when He becomes king. They want greatness. Hearing this, the other 10 disciples are “indignant” at James and John (Mark 10:41). Whether their indignance is because of their audacity to ask, or sheer jealousy, we do not know for sure. What we do know is Jesus’ response. Jesus recognizes that this is a teachable moment. Pay careful attention to what He says to all of His disciples here:
Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)
Did you catch Jesus’ answer to our question? Here we find a great reversal of expectations and definitions. Jesus, the One who created all things, is before all things, and holds all things together defines greatness as this: being a servant. Put another away, Jesus defines the pursuit of greatness as the pursuit and cultivation of a life of service to others. Additionally, do not miss the reason for this definition: Jesus’ example. Jesus’ mission!
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Vs. 45)
What are the implications for us? Here at Oak Grove our vision is to cultivate true greatness in our students. Greatness in its truest sense: a heart and life inclined to serve the King of Kings, stewarding one’s knowledge, resources and wisdom to serve His people. Jesus said, “‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me,’ (Matthew 25:40).
As we have just completed our first Service Week at Oak Grove, my hope and prayer is that we have taken deliberate steps with our children towards a pursuit of true greatness. May we continue on this journey with them, following in the footsteps of Christ Himself and empowered by His love!