Review of Chapter 26

Chapter 26 ~
The old saying goes, "There's  no fool like an old fool!"  Well, I'm afraid I've been an old fool more than once---and it's not a role I want to repeat!  Chapter 26 starts off with a lot of descriptions of a fool:

• Not deserving of honor
• Needing hard discipline
• No one you want to argue with - they'll bring you down to their level
• Not trustworthy to convey a message
• Doesn't apply wisdom (proverbs), they are like "lame legs that hang limp" in his life
• Misuses proverbs by applying them wrongly and recklessly
• Don't hire one!! You'll be hurting everyone else on your team!
• And lastly, and this is the one that is the most convicting, a fool is so foolish that he repeats his foolishness...he just doesn't learn, "like a dog that returns to its vomit"

But then, after all of those harsh descriptions of a fool, Solomon tells us that a "man who is wise in his own eyes", well there is more hope for a fool than for him.  Wow!  That tells us just how stupid it is to think that we ever have truly attained wisdom to any degree.  Humility keeps us from being worse off than a fool.  If you ever feel yourself start to believe that you've just about got life all figured out and have the answers for all around you, beware!  You've become wise in your own eyes and God will show you, in one way or another, that you're really not all that!

Then Solomon moves on to the "Slacker".  Slackers make excuses ("there's a lion in the road" - modern day translation, "traffic's too bad!"); they lazy around in comfort rather than getting up and doing something necessary.  Again Solomon uses the phrase, "In his own eyes" --- do you get the impression that Solomon is warning against how we view ourselves?  Most often, our inward eyes do not have 20/20 vision!  In his own eyes, a slacker is wise!  They've got all the answers and they've figured out how to get through this life without working very hard at all, which means they are taking advantage of someone!  But in reality, they are not sensible.  And more often than not, you will see a slacker do well for a while, and then his "wise" plans fall apart.  And maybe that's God's way of saying, "Now, get to work!"

Some of the other words of instruction in this chapter that I noted:

"Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down."  v.20

"A hateful person disguises himself with his speech and harbors deceit within.  When he speaks, don't believe him....though his hatred is concealed by deception, his evil will be revealed in the assembly."  v. 24-26

"The one who digs a pit will fall in it." v. 27

Where are you today?  Lord, let me not be wise in my own eyes!  Let me humble myself before You, acknowledging that You alone have all wisdom, and that others on this earth are wiser than I am.  Let me be discerning of those who claim wisdom to make sure that their wisdom aligns with Yours.  Let me see through deception and flattery, to the heart that may be full of hatred.  Lord, thank You for allowing Solomon to share these words of wisdom with us today, in this world of 2016, and let us apply them to our lives so that they reflect Your wisdom living through us!  You are so good, You are so wise...let us glorify You by obeying and trusting in You!