Fool's Delight!

"Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating." (Proverbs 18:2,6 NIV)

The words fool or fools is mentioned in the Bible 108 times and predominately in Proverbs--the book of Wisdom. Hmmm! Now, we know that if we lack wisdom, we can ask of God who gives it to us liberally (James 1:5), but what happens when we lack wisdom and don't realize how foolish we are are?

How many times have we seen evidence of fools through their behavior? You know, those folks who do really dumb things and think they can get away with it. There was even a show on television about "dumbest criminals" that a number of people watched, just to laugh at the foolishness.

I've often said stupid people think everyone else is just as stupid as they are. They don't realize they're incapable of having a rational thought and so they think no one else can either. A perfect example of this mentality is a young woman trying to cash a 94 million dollar income tax check. Really? Of course she was caught! No one in their right mind would attempt to cash a 94 million dollar income tax check when they walk into a bank looking like they just rolled out of bed. Seriously?

But in her mind, the foolish mind, no one would be the wiser and she'd walk away with all that money. I don't even think she had a bank account which proves her inability to have a rational thought. Fools delight in their own opinions, devoid of understanding.

I've had students who tried to turn in papers they didn't write and thought I wouldn't know. If a student can't write a grammatically correct, complete sentence in class, why would they be able to write an entire paper that is flawless, outside of class? Really? Do I have stupid written across my forehead? I think not. And when I give their papers back with comments across the top of the paper about plagiarism, they start stuttering, trying to explain how they didn't have time to do the work, so they had someone else do it for them. Uh huh! Then I tell them to re-read their syllabus which explains the consequences of plagiarized work.

And the same is true for those who run their mouths without thinking--especially in situations they do not understand. They talk and talk and talk, ignoring the warning signs from people who don't want to hear what they have to say and then, when they get in someone's face--the wrong someone--they get the beat down of their life. I'm not condoning violence, just referring to why some things happen to people. Wise people walk away from strife, fools simply continue stirring it up until it explodes on them.

If I, a mere human being, can detect foolishness and a lack of wisdom, how much more so can God detect the fools who delight in stirring up strife?

It is better to be quiet and thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and let everyone know--yep, there's a fool in the house!

I encourage all reading to consider what's being said even in a humorous light and encourage others to seek God and His wisdom before doing or saying something foolish that will result in severe consequences.