Saturday, July 6, 2013

Wisdom and Folly by Bill Crofton

Have you ever made a stupid decision?  Last year in Broward County, a man died.  A couple weeks later they found out why.  He had entered a contest to see who could eat the most live cockroaches, and the winner would get a live python.  He won, but he choked on the roaches.  You have to wonder what part of that whole venture seemed like a good idea.

You may have never done something quite so ridiculous, but let’s do a mass confession.  Raise your hand (no one can see you) if you ever made a foolish decision of any kind:  financially, vocationally, in your physical health, ever said something dumb, or made a foolish relational or romantic selection.   If you have ever been less than insightful about time management, or goal-setting, or parenting, or television viewing; if you have ever made a decision, with the benefit of hindsight, that could be characterized by the word dumb, raise your hand.  (again, no one will notice).

Think about the decisions we make and then the decisions that make us:  what I say, what I think, what I eat, what I read, where I go, who I’m with, what I do, how I work, when I rest.  Add up a million little decisions, and what you get is life, right? 

The Bible has a word for people who navigate life really well, and that word is wise.  Not lucky.  Not wealthy.  Not successful.  Wise.  Wisdom in the Bible is not the same thing as having a really high IQ.  Wisdom in the Bible is not at all restricted to people with advanced educational degrees.  Wisdom in the Bible is the ability to make great decisions. 

Proverbs 9:10 tell us, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”

Wisdom is the art of living well.  Wisdom is the ability to find God in ordinary moments of every- day life.


Bill Crofton

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