“The Wise and the Foolish”

Proverbs 12 Proverbs are wise sayings explained through illustrations, but wisdom “has never appealed to proud intellectuals who consider themselves beyond the simplicity of God’s truth.” [Dr. Constable]

Looking back at Proverbs 6, we are told to consider the ant and how she wisely prepares and works.   Aesop captured those principles in a fable about the ant and the grasshopper.  Whereas the ant wisely prepared for the winter months, the grasshopper spent his time playing his fiddle.  When winter came, and the grasshopper was hungry, the ant reminded him there was a time for work and play.  In the NT, Jesus used the parable of the homebuilders of the wise and foolish to show that principle in real life. While the wise built on a rock which took time, patience, and planning, the fool built his house on sand which was impulsive and quick. Just like the grasshopper fable, when the winter storms came, all was lost. The Israelites also failed to learn the lessons as well and spent forty years wandering in the desert.

The MSG captures this lesson: If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it-how shortsighted to refuse correction!  [Prov 12:1] We must be hearers of the words; learn from them and put them into practice, which is true wisdom.

Prov 12 reminds us of this principle: The inspired word of God is “useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” [2Tim 3:16]

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