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We’re in the Proverbs Every Day Challenge where we’re reading a chapter of the book of Proverbs every day. If you want to hear more about this, check out this video and be sure to join the Facebook group if you’re into that kind of thing—both are linked below.
There are four types of people mentioned over and over in the book of Proverbs—and we’ve already covered two of them: the Wise and the Simple. As you know from BA Baracus in the first few seconds of this video, today we are talking about the Fool.
If the Wise have learned from experience and the Simple aren’t old enough to have many experiences yet, the Fool is someone who has the life experience to be wise but chooses to reject the lessons that could have been learned. The quintessential Proverb for fools is this: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness” (26:11).
I used to think this was one of the funniest lines in the whole Bible—I mean, a dog eating his own vomit, that’s gold. But now I see it as one of the saddest. Because we all know someone who’s shipwrecked their own life by repeating the same folly over and over again. I mean, they knew better, yet they chose to be fools and thus inherit the consequences of their actions.
That’s the thing about fools—they just don’t care. They know what’s right and wise, but they choose folly. Living foolishly can be fun and exciting for a while, but the check eventually comes due. That’s why we see so often in the Book of Proverbs warnings against temporary pleasures and shortcuts—because folly always costs us.
So how can we avoid being fools? First, seek out wisdom. Read Proverbs. Study Proverbs. Apply Proverbs to your life. Join us on this journey of reading a chapter of Proverbs every day. Pray for it, because God loves to give us wisdom. We’ve talked about those things in a previous video, so I won’t belabor the point.
The other thing that I believe is critical—especially the younger a person is—is surrounding yourself with friends who aren’t fools. My friend and former boss, Shawn Hammontree, would quote this Proverb so often that I memorized it just by him repeating it: “Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble” (13:20).
Friends matter. We can pretty quickly see how this applies to teens and preteens, right? But it goes beyond that. It applies to us as well. You are the product of the people you’re around most—you talk like them, you spend your money like them, you eat like them, you share their values, and you love God like them. If you want to change the course of your life, change who you hang out with.
Our culture loves fools—we honor them with TV shows, likes, and notoriety. Don’t believe me? How many times have you watched a video just to see someone do something foolish? I’m guilty. Here’s the thing you have to ask yourself about fools: If they don’t care about their own best interest, why would they ever care about mine?
“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.” (13:20)
I hope you gained some wisdom from this video. If you did, would you consider sharing it? And subscribe so you can catch the next one when it drops!
See you next time—grace and peace.
Copyright © 2022 by Stephen Castleberry @https://www.youtube.com/c/StephenCastleberry No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from Lifeword.org.