Moments of Quiet Truth

" T he fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm." Proverbs 19:23 "whoever has it rests satisfied"      Is the "it" referring to the fear of the LORD or to the possession of life at the end of it? I tried to think of possible ramifications for either. If the fear of the LORD is the antecedent, the reason for satisfaction is the understanding of the sovereign One in whose presence is "fullness of joy" and at whose right hand there are "pleasures forevermore" (Ps. 16). Satisfaction comes from dwelling on and in the presence of God.    On the other hand,if the antecedent is life, then the harm referred to is the harm of death and separation from His joy-filled presence.      I am a visual learner, so I drew a diagram in my Bible study notebook of a stick figure walking along a path labeled "The fear of the LORD." At the end of the path I wrote "life" and

     M y grandfather is dying from cancer. They've given him months to live, but nobody knows how long. He's in Louisiana and I'm in South Carolina. The last time I saw him was several years ago - before he moved from North Carolina to Louisiana. That was the last time I told him I loved him, I think.      After talking to mom last night and realizing how serious things were after just one round of chemo (nearly killed him), I began to remember  . . . . . remember the times he pushed us around in the wheelbarrow and then let us have a go at trying to get it around yard, the time he scared me by showing up Christmas morning dressed as Santa and me too young to enjoy people in costume. I remember underdogs on the tree swing in the back yard, Grandpa cringing as I looked at him with my eyes crossed, him taking me to the doctor because I was fool enough to try to reach the bar on the opposite side of the swing set with my feet as I pumped my swing with all my might and the ch