Devotional Thoughts: Wise Fools?

Each day we can decide to join the foolish or the wise. A man visits us in our office and is mostly intoxicated when he comes. He knows in his head what he’s doing has already damaged his body and will kill him if he continues. I believe in his heart he wants to break free from alcohol. It has a tight grip on him. He knows runs to us when he feels foolish. He asks for help but the craving for alcohol overtakes him despite his cries for help and the cycle repeats itself. What if he didn’t have us? We believe he can break free with rehabilitation and God’s help. Only the wise can see the foolishness in their own lives. This man knows. I pray he can change his companions and heal among the wise.

A companion is someone we walk through life with. We spend time together. If we think others have no influence over us we are mistaken. Young people especially vulnerable to be sucked into doing foolish things. Who we allow into the deeper areas of our lives can make or break us.

I think we all know the just because someone is a leader doesn’t mean they are wise. We’ve seen many foolish leaders leading people astray into destruction. Anyone who tempts another towards sin is foolish. Lives and families have been totally destroyed because one person tempted another. Sin is addictive and anyone who says otherwise is foolish. We are responsible for how and where we lead other people.

We all need time among the wise. The wise aren’t those who have a lot of knowledge but those who know what to do with knowledge. We’ve all sought after advice at different times in our lives. Who we seek out in these moments matters. In our culture we ladies like to hang out with our girlfriends and complain about life and seek the opinions of our friends. More often than not we aren’t even seeking their opinion but we are just wanting our friends to agree with us to give us a license to do or get what we want. I’m not even certain these are even friends! If my friends are my friends because they agree with me I’m selfish in my relationships and probably the rest of my life is a mess.

Iron sharpens iron. Iron doesn’t seek to agree with another at all! Iron doesn’t give in but stands firm and seeks to help mold others into something good. Iron can cut right through us just as truth can be so painful. While none of us wish to hurt another, speaking truth is hard, but it’s also the most loving thing to do. Only the wise can speak truth in love.

It might be time to assess our companions. Maybe some wise need to start tempting fools towards wisdom? Let’s tempt all people towards good and towards God. In the end we’ve all been foolish. Hopefully we’ve turned our folly into wisdom by learning from our mistakes.