Really Dangerous books for Boys [Bible texts for men - part1]

Every Book, every chapter and verse in the Bible is applicable to everyone, regardless of gender, race, age or stage of life, but there are some books for whom the original, intended reader was male! Books like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 1&2 Timothy and Titus which are very masculine in their intent and again and again refer to the reader as 'my son'!

These are the original Dangerous books for boys!
Dangerous because their content could, does and will dramatically change the way we live, conduct ourselves and view the world, not to mention how they will affect our view of God.

It is highly recommended that every guy should read these books, along with Song of Solomon (SoS gives clear guidance for romance, dating, marriage and sexual desire), and implement the advice and commands contained within them.

Over the next while I'm going to glean out some of the advice, commands and instructions from some of these books and post them, (perhaps I'll write a bit about them or perhaps just let the Biblical text speak for itself).

I can't promise a long series of posts on this topic (it's possible I'll awake tomorrow and think it's a silly idea), but for now its in my mind to do!

So to begin any series or message on wisdom, instruction or advice we must begin where wisdom and knowledge themselves begin:
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of all knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

True knowledge finds its beginning in a deep rooted 'fear' of God.
This 'fear' spoken of here is not that which you would feel if an overbearing T-Rex was snapping at you with its large jaws but, as a friend who's studying through Proverbs said, "the sort of fear a child should have for his earthly father. The father loves the child and vice versa and the father wants the very best for his child. The child seeks to honour the father by devotion and obedience."
It is a fear of reverence, respect and awe at an almighty & loving God.

If we truly 'fear' God our lives, choices, places we go, things we do, what we say, and much more would drastically change in light of that fear.
And a deep, loving, respectful fear of a revered God would drive us to hang on His every Word as His counsel, commands and instructions that are revealed to us by the Bible would take new, vigorous, active meaning in our lives.

In fact I wonder if the point of this verse shows that a fear of God drives us to love and act upon His wisdom and instructions for us, since the despising of these is the actions of a fool who disobeys God's word.

On a final, and somewhat side note I'd say that in order to fear God we need to know Him, His character and His ways. In order to fear, love or feel anything toward anyone we need first an impression of the type of person they are! So in order to get this fear of God we need to study His word, the Bible in order to see His glorious character and His works so that we can respond to Him in appropriate ways.