It’s fun to look for emerging themes as we read through the Proverbs and today’s theme struck me as the very theme highlighted by a proverb appears TWICE near the beginning and ending of today’s reading. Here it is:
There is a way that appears to be right,
Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25 (NIV)
but in the end it leads to death.
And throughout today’s reading we see that the foolish1 follow their own path and chart their own course, but instead of finding success and joy, they find destruction and emptiness. And more than that, they also hurt those around them in a sort of hurricane of destruction. We read about households, neighbours, children, parents, and even the Lord being affected by the ill-conceived, ill-informed, and ill-executed plans of the willfully ignorant. But the great irony — as Solomon points out — is that they are “pure in their own eyes”!
This is yet another example of why it is so absolutely critical that we have a brother or sister who can sharpen us and tell us when we are being big stupid idiots. Once you find a person who can tell you that your being stupid as an act of love and friendship… return the favour and never let that person go!
- It is worth noting that “fool” or “foolish” refers to a person who is obstinate, unyielding in their position, and without understanding. This is not someone who has been bamboozled in a moment, but represents a lifestyle of doing it “their way”. ↩︎