wisdom, fear, and the Word

Proverbs 7
This chapter is "another warning about immoral women," and I think one of the keys is in verses 4 and 5: "Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. Let them hold you back from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of an adulterous woman." Interpreting loosely: Love Christ like a brother and get Him to infuse His Mind into yours, which will hold you back from an affair because you will see adultery as the deception and death that it really is.

Along these lines, I was reading Psalm 36 this morning and was struck by verse 1: "Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God to restrain them." Thus, it is both our love and fear of the Lord that leads us to live Holy lives, enabled by His Grace.

John 2
Several things really stuck out to me. First, why does Jesus tell His mom, "My time has not yet come." and then immediately turn around and perform His first miracle? Also, Verse 11 indicates that the Disciples believed Jesus was the Messiah after His first miracle of turning water into wine. It also says in verse 22, "After he was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered that he had said ['Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.']. And they believed both Jesus and the Scriptures."

The second thing that bothers me is that John states twice that the disciples believed him, but then in Mark 6:52 (immediately after Christ walks on water) it states, "They still didn't understand the significance of the miracle of the multiplied loaves, for their hearts were hard and they did not believe." How can you believe when you see the first miracle of turning water into wine, but not believe after you see Jesus feed thousands of people and WALK ON WATER?! Then, after He was raised to life, they believed again. It is almost as if they believed, then questioned, then believed again. I suppose that is not so dissimilar from my Walk, after all.

Third, what strikes me as peculiar is that John spends the first 14 verses of chapter 1 explaining that Christ Jesus IS the Word. So why would he make a distinction in 2:22 between "Jesus and the Scriptures"?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for sanctifying me and continually giving me your Mind. Lord, please teach me to fear you and hide your Word in my heart so that I won't sin against you. Lord Jesus, please help me believe you; grow my Faith. Lord, reveal yourself to me through the Word that I may know you, the one, true, living God.