Has something ever happened in your life that made you realize you're not as clever or gifted as you thought you were? I'm not talking about the British kind of false modesty where we say we're not very good at something when actually we're excellent at it, but when you actually genuinely thought you were good or something and then discover you are not.
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The reality is we often, when we hear about the wise person, the foolish person, the simple person, we immediately put ourselves in the category of the wise. We don't want to admit that we are foolish. We certainly don't want to be thought of as the caricature we see in Proverbs—the simple, the fool, the mocker.
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Since the Garden of Eden, humans have been saying that we're wise and we're better at making decisions even than God, and we've chosen to go our own ways. But the consequences don't always work out well.
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy one is understanding. For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you're wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you're a mocker, you alone will suffer.
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The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps. The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. You know, in a lot of comedy shows that we watch, there is like a simple character, a dumb character who is the butt of all the jokes.
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When we see that character, we immediately think that's not me. We don't empathize with them. We probably join in laughing at them. But the simple person in Proverbs is meant to draw us in, and we're meant to identify with them. They're not necessarily lacking intelligence, but they're foolish.
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Clever people can still be unwise, can be simple. In fact, sometimes they can use their cleverness to even more efficiently influence people, manipulate people, lie to people, and bring others down. We've seen that play out on our streets this week, haven't we?
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Aren't we wayward sometimes, just following our own decisions? Aren't we complacent sometimes, ignoring good advice? Don't we get born into believing news stories without checking out the facts? Don't we sometimes excuse our own bad habits while we judge others?
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The caricature here in the Proverbs is here to grab our attention, not to get us off the hook. We need to relate and see ourselves in the simple person. But you know, the great thing here is it's the simple person that wisdom is calling, that wisdom is inviting.
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There's no condemnation here. There's no shame here admitting that we need wisdom. God isn't wagging the finger at us. He's not saying, "Oh, you're so foolish, you're so simple. Let me just give you a little bit of wisdom to maybe steer you in the right direction."
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He gives generously to all who admit they need wisdom. He offers life to those who will step in and sit at the table with wisdom. Folly, in contrast, is unruly. She hasn't prepared what she offers. Her call is just spontaneous and impulsive.
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Proverbs 5 paints a very dark picture of where things end up. Her feet go down to death, her steps lead to the grave. She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.
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From the day of Solomon thousands of years ago to our day today, sexual sin has a unique way of taking over your heart and leading you away from God as well as messing up your life. Beware—our culture can't even put sex and sin in the same sentence, but as Bible believers we do.
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Whatever path you're on today, wisdom is calling out to you, saying, "Come in, come in, come in. Turn around, leave your simple ways, and you will live. Walk in the way of insight." But we do have to admit that we're simple, that we've messed up, that we've been unwise.
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We're not alone in this. God the Holy One wants us to know him, to have his wisdom, to be cleansed by him, to come into relationship with him. We're not alone in trying to do life right. He will be with us if we kneel and worship Him.
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When we realize how serious our choices are, that life and death can be there in the balance, we make more effort. And the choices before us—whether we'll accept the word of God, whether we'll obey, whether we'll worship God as the only one—are literally life and death choices for us.
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