The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
The National Geographic website refers to him as one of the “world's most important scientists.” The “him” is Dr. Francis Collins who has been entrusted with plotting out the human genome. For those of us who don’t know a genome from a giraffe, let me explain. A genome consists of all of the hereditary material possessed by an organism, or, in other words, all of its genetic information. This means Dr. Collins has been asked to map out the 3.1 billions bits of genetic stuff, which, in some ways, determines who we are.
That’s interesting. What is more interesting is that Dr. Collins used to be an atheist, figuring there could be no truth outside of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Later, in medical school, face-to-face with the great mysteries of life and death, Dr. Collins realized science cannot answer questions such as why are we here, who created the universe, why do humans have a moral sense, or what happens after we die.
Eventually, Dr. Collins confessed he could no longer LOGICALLY hold on to his “there-is-no-God philosophy.” In a short time, the Holy Spirit led him to a leap of faith in Jesus Christ. While I certainly don’t share all of Dr. Collins beliefs, he does prove a point. No matter what the media would have you think, having faith in God and believing on Jesus Christ doesn’t mean you have to turn off your brain.
On the contrary, in the book of Proverbs, it is written, “fools despise wisdom and instruction,” but a really smart soul knows that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” The Lord has given us a body, mind, and a soul that He wants us to use as we live our lives in thanksgiving for His many blessings. He wants us to understand we have a brain which, when it is coupled with faith in Him and His Son, can create Christian parents, preachers, teachers, inventors, philanthropists, humanitarians, politicians, mathematicians, astronomers, and even one of the world’s most important scientists.
THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I believe that You have given me my body, soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, as well as my reason and all my senses, and You still preserve them. While ‘I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him,’ I rejoice that You have called me by the Gospel and have taken my faith to that point where I can see Your hand in what You have created as well as in that which You have revealed. May I use all my gifts to glorify the Savior. Amen.
Today's Bible Readings: Joshua 16-18 Luke 11:1-28
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