Though it cost you all you have, get understanding.
Proverbs 4:7
Jesus said that calling someone a fool risked you edging toward the fires of hell (see Matthew 5:21-26). In context, Jesus is teaching about the destructive power of human anger and human language to the soul of another person. Whatever else we gain from Jesus’ words, we can see that ‘fool’ is not a preferrable category for a life.
I am a lover of the book of Proverbs. It has 31 chapters, perfect for a 31-day journey into wisdom. Take that path many times in life and your life will deepen.
It’s key to understand what the Proverbs are and are not.
The Proverbs are observations, corrections, and directions, not threats, intimidations, and punishments. They don’t function as “rules” or “promises” as much as they give guidance and warning from the watchtower of observation. If you hike rim to rim in the Grand Canyon (on my bucket list), stopping at the Park Ranger station for warnings and guidance is key to your survival and enjoyment.
Think of Proverbs as the Park Ranger Station of life sent by God so you and I are not fools.
There you find three characters.
Wisdom.
Folly.
Wickedness.
They each represent a voice you can listen to in life and a path you can take through life.
Wisdom observes what is happening, sees the outcomes (good, bad, pain, not pain, etc), and chooses the better path. That is what Proverbs offers—the observations of wisdom. “Go that path, and there is pain. Go this one, there is delight.”
The wise person observes and changes. So the wise person is characterized by constant learning.
Folly ignores what is happening, sees only what it wants, and doesn’t allow empirical evidence to mean anything. No, it elevates personal perception and desire above everything. If others are hurt, shame on them.
The fool observes and keeps going not matter what they see. So the fool is characterized by never learning.
The wicked uses situations and things to their advantage, often intentionally to others hurt. Their agenda is the agenda. There is no other agenda.
The wicked person observes and sees how to use what’s happening to hurt others. So the wicked is characterized by weaponizing learning.
The wicked person takes understanding and uses it against people.
The fool never pauses long enough to understand.
The wise person is characterized, in all their actions, by understanding.
At any point, the book of Proverbs notes, you can change paths.
Though it cost you all you have, get understanding.
Proverbs 4:7
My goal is that you may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that you may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that you may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 2:2-3
Courtesy: Pastor Scott Marshall, Wichita First Church of the Nazarene