Wisdom and her evil twin Folly
This week is on Proverbs 9:13-18:
This part of Proverbs comes after some warnings about adulteresses, and some contrasting of their charm with the charm of wisdom. These verses talk about the charm of stuff that isn't wisdom. Folly often looks like wisdom. That's the point they're making here. Wisdom and Folly both set up shop in the same place, but one will be good for you and the other will ruin you.
Wisdom is like a good wife. She will love you every bit as much as the adulteress claims to, but she will benefit you. She doesn't blow all of your wealth on shoes and skirts and useless trinkets like Folly. The amount you invest in Wisdom produces a greater yield than the amount you put in. That's why it's worth more than gold.
Folly (something that is stupid, costly, and useless) gives advice, just like wisdom does. "Borrow money to pay for these toys." "Steal that candy bar." It seems like a good idea at the time, but the result is more costly than the reward. Tiny lies add up and lead to doom.
Folly proclaims its "wisdom" from the highest places. Think TV and movies, radio, web sites, etc. Folly pretends to be wisdom, the same as an adulteress pretends to be a wife. In the short term, immediate moment of making your decision, maybe functionally they are the same, but in the long term, and in the big picture, they are not at all. The adulteress destroys, distracts, betrays, and misleads.
Choose wisdom. Look at the big picture. What are the results of what you are doing? Does God want you to do it? Does it benefit someone other than the person offering their "advice?" Or is it adulterous folly, trying to trick you into giving up what's yours?
Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.
This part of Proverbs comes after some warnings about adulteresses, and some contrasting of their charm with the charm of wisdom. These verses talk about the charm of stuff that isn't wisdom. Folly often looks like wisdom. That's the point they're making here. Wisdom and Folly both set up shop in the same place, but one will be good for you and the other will ruin you.
Wisdom is like a good wife. She will love you every bit as much as the adulteress claims to, but she will benefit you. She doesn't blow all of your wealth on shoes and skirts and useless trinkets like Folly. The amount you invest in Wisdom produces a greater yield than the amount you put in. That's why it's worth more than gold.
Folly (something that is stupid, costly, and useless) gives advice, just like wisdom does. "Borrow money to pay for these toys." "Steal that candy bar." It seems like a good idea at the time, but the result is more costly than the reward. Tiny lies add up and lead to doom.
Folly proclaims its "wisdom" from the highest places. Think TV and movies, radio, web sites, etc. Folly pretends to be wisdom, the same as an adulteress pretends to be a wife. In the short term, immediate moment of making your decision, maybe functionally they are the same, but in the long term, and in the big picture, they are not at all. The adulteress destroys, distracts, betrays, and misleads.
Choose wisdom. Look at the big picture. What are the results of what you are doing? Does God want you to do it? Does it benefit someone other than the person offering their "advice?" Or is it adulterous folly, trying to trick you into giving up what's yours?
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