“The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver, the heart of the wicked is worth little.”
—Proverbs 10:20
Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” In the Book of Proverbs, wisdom is defined as applying divine truth in every situation. It can also be referred to as righteous application of knowledge. A fool, on the other hand, rejects Biblical truth because “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1). The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that “the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him.” Amazingly, to a fool, foolishness is wisdom and true wisdom is foolishness. That a fool rejects God’s wisdom is evident by the words that flow from his mouth. Proverbs 15:2, “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly.” In other words, a fool is quick to verbalize his own opinion. Just as a bitter fountain produces bitter water, and a rotten tree produces rotten fruit, so also a fool produces foolishness, speaking on his own authority and spouting out his own foolish opinions.
The world is full of the opinions of fools who deny God, and who mock the reality and consequences of sin. A fool is not only quick to voice his opinion, but he also propagates his foolishness to others. Proverbs 16:22, “Understanding is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the discipline of fools is folly.” The fool contaminates the rest of society with the same foolishness that damns his own soul. He leaves his foolishness as a legacy to his children, his friends, and all those who fall under the influence of his folly. He utters foolish statements like, “there is no God”; “there is no heaven or hell”; “there is no such thing as absolute truth”; “the Bible is a myth”; “live for today”; “man is a product of random chance”; “life has no meaning”; “the universe is all there is”; “200 billion years ago the earth evolved”; “man is an animal”; “there is no life after death”; etc., etc.
In contrast to fools, believers are blessed to have the indwelling Spirit of wisdom Who illuminates their understanding by God’s Word, which is truth (John 17:17). The wisdom of God is the lamp unto their feet and the light unto their path as they walk in this fallen world (Psalm 119:105). Therefore, the believer’s words to others are based upon the wisdom of Scripture, not empty speculation. 1 Corinthians 2:6-8, “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” By bringing God’s Word to mind in every circumstance every believer can speak words that are “like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). And for this reason, Jesus declared that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Are you walking according to the wisdom of the Word or the foolishness of the world?
Friday Devotional: June 21, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry