5 February | Youth
«A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left. Even when a fool walks along the way, he lacks wisdom, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.» Ecclesiastes 10:2, 3
The book of Proverbs teaches that the opposite of wisdom is foolishness. In almost every chapter, you can see a tug of war between the wise man and the fool. Place your bets: Who will win this duel?
In general, we use the word “fool” for an individual of low intelligence. In the Bible, however, a fool is not an idiot. Regardless of cognitive capacity, this is someone who ignores divine wisdom.
Wisdom is knowing God and doing what He asks. Folly is running away from God and doing only your own will. The wise person walks in the direction of God. The fool follows his own path. The “intelligent” person who leaves God out of his plans ends up guided by foolishness disguised as understanding.
The fool does not think he is foolish, and the wise never thinks he is wise. But when someone is foolish, everyone knows but him. The fool does not think about the consequences; he acts on impulse. In Ecclesiastes 10:1, Solomon says that a fool is like a fly in perfume, a rotten orange in a basket, that is, he always contaminates the environment. A fool does not learn from his own mistakes. He is part of the team of failures, which includes the quarrelsome and the lazy.
Solomon had zero tolerance for these people. The Bible calls the actions of a fool foolish. This characteristic is related to a lack of common sense and vision. The foolish fail to realize the impact of the consequences of their actions. This is also called stupidity or foolishness. And the Bible warns that the path of the fool is a downward spiral. Folly always causes more foolishness.
Today wisdom and foolishness are making the same invitation: “Come to my side!” Wisdom is offering life, foolishness, death. You decide!