The Fool

I don't think any of us would like to be called a fool! This would be especially true when we look at those the Bible calls fools. We often think of a fool as someone who is just 'daft' or silly, or even a person who hasn't got a clue about something. But, although there are several words in the Bible for the fool they are all serious words showing us that a fool is not just 'daft' but he or she is bad. The word in Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 describes a person called a fool who is wrong in how he thinks about God and morally wrong in the way he lives. He is not a nice person to know. It is usually the case that when a person does not believe in God that person will not live a morally upright life because he thinks there is no one to see what he does or to judge him anyway. In the New Testament we see that when people threw out God, they also threw out the way to live a good life.

The opposite of the foolish person in the Bible is the wise person and the Bible says that the very beginning of wisdom is to acknowledge that God exists and he is interested in all that we do. "The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man..." (Psalm 14:2). The Bible says, "The fear (or respect) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge... " Remember it is foolish not to trust God.

Prayer

Dear Lord, may I never despise your wisdom but live by its instruction. Amen.