The Fool

For Friday, December 14, 2007
Proverbs 28:22

Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.

It is difficult to change a fool. Try explanation. The fool nods as though understanding; he then acts as if he had received none. Try reasoning with a fool. He argues irrationally so that you become befuddled. Try education. He will take in little, and what he does take in, he will misapply. Try discipline. He may behave better, but still without understanding and likely with resentment.

A likeable fool will at least try to please others and even acknowledge his defficiency (thus being wiser than many a "wise" man). But especially troublesome is the fool who is angry with everyone else for getting it wrong. He goes his whole life offending others and bothered by the reaction of everyone else.

Like a disease that cannot be cured but instead managed, so one must accept for the fool. We will only frustrate ourselves in attempting to change his way of thinking and behavior. We need to think, rather, in terms of setting boundaries so as to restrain his offending behavior and to protect him from his own folly.

And then pray. For though we cannot change a fool, it is the specialty of the Holy Spirit to do just that. After all, consider what he has done in us. Without the Spirit, we also are fools easily going the way of the world. It took the "folly" of the cross to make us wise in Christ.

Of Praise and Testing

For Thursday, December 13, 2007
Proverbs 27:21

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and a man is tested by his praise.

The crucible and the furnace serve to both test and purify their metals. If there are impurities, they will surface and be removed. If there are none, then their purity will be proved. Either way, the fiery process produces good character.

So praise works in similar ways. Typically, a person will not receive public praise without proving himself through some sort of trial. Oftentimes the very praise will invite scrutiny to see if there are impurities. Many a praised idol has been brought down through the scrutiny brought on in the light of attention.

But another test for a person's quality is the quality of the praise. We can test a person's quality by who gives him the praise and by what he is praised for. Thus, the praise of one's peers is valued more than that of those who know him little or understand the work he has done. The praise of persons known for their integrity and wisdom reveals more than that of the fool who "blesses his neighbor with a loud voice" (v. 14). To be praised by fools and the wicked reveals troubling impurities.

The proverb may also be speaking of testing the person by what he praises. This certainly is a good test. What does he value? Of what and of whom does he speak highly? He who praises a fool is likely to be a fool; likewise, he who praises the wicked reveals the wickedness of his own heart.

Whom do you admire? For what reasons? Answer the question truthfully and you may discover more about yourself.

Craving Eyes

For Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Proverbs 27:20

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

The grave is never satisfied. No matter how many bodies it receives, it is always craving for more. So are the eyes of man, as advertisers know well. No matter what a person may have, when he sees something desirable, he craves it and will spend himself into deep debt or turn to wicked ways to obtain it. He cannot be satisfied.

Tolstoy illustrates this truth well in his short story, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" The peasant Pahom keeps moving, keeps acquiring more land, until it leads to his death. "If I had..." drives him acquire and acquire, never being satisfied.

It is a fine balance between desiring to improving our lot and being unable to obtain contentment. Because our eyes see what we can obtain if we labor diligently, we can raise our lot and produce good fruit, as verse 18 notes. But it is easier than we realize to step off that fine line and become gluttoness. Balance is what we need, and it is what we cannot attain as long as we are not contented in the love of Christ. That seems a cliche but it is a profound truth that few have known.

The Apostle Paul knew it and learned to be content in every circumstance (Philippians 4:12). Oddly enough, his very contentment in Christ led him to be extremely ambitious in his life's service. Is there a connection between contentment in what is of true value and motivation to achieve? That may be a good thought to contemplate today. In what are you contented? What motivates you? How do they relate? Knowing that answer may be the difference between restless craving and true fulfillment.

Reflection

For Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Proverbs 27:19

As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.

This seems simple enough. To know ourselves, we merely need to look at our heart. But peering into a still pool of water to see one's face is much easier than looking into one's heart. Indeed, it is the most difficult task for anyone. Why?

The heart, of course, is a figure of speech and difficult to define. Is the heart what I intend or what I do? Many times I do the opposite of what I intend to do. I discourage when I mean to encourage. I take when I intend to share. I want to do good but end up doing wrong. In my mind I have a good heart; it's just that my behavior distorts the heart's true reflection.

Or the actions may be reversed. What many see as reflecting kindness is really an attempt to earn advantage for myself. If people only knew the real reason for the good things they see, they would be appalled. I know my behavior is covering my heart's true reflection.

As one who's face has been scarred loathes to look into the mirror at his reflection, so we all have an aversion of looking fully into our own hearts. It is not overly complicated to see our true reflection, which can be seen in both behavior and thought-life; rather, it is painful to see, and we lack the will to stare into the heart-mirror.

And the only way we can possess the will is to first possess the grace that allows us see both the scars and the beauty of remade in Christ. We are afraid to get below the skin and see a wicked heart; but if you are in Christ, there is yet another level deeper that reveals true beauty - the beauty of our Lord which is growing within us through the action of the Holy Spirit. Look into the mirror to the wickedness and then through it to the beauty of Christ Jesus in you.

Reward

For Monday, December 10, 2007
Proverbs 27:18

Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who guards his master will be honored.

There is reward that comes with conscientious, faithful service. The farmer giving such care to his fig tree will eat of its delicious, nourishing fruit; the servant protecting his master will receive honor.

Does it not see so for you? Perhaps you have been conscientious for awhile but need to be patience with time. Perhaps you have labored long in your mind, but the quality of your service in truth has been sporatic. You have allowed disappointments impact your work. In your mind you are working hard, but others hear your complaints and observe weaknesses that you will not allow yourself to see.

Perhaps the fruit you seek is not the fruit God has prepared, which will be sweeter than you know. It may be the unexpected fruit that comes when you become content with what you have. It may be the fruit that comes from other labor that you have not given much thought to, such as befriending someone in a time of need, of being an encouragement to others, or other acts that you do by second nature and therefore do not consider the reward the comes. Perhaps the fruit will be the consequence of feeling barren and even stripped of fruit, such as our Lord experienced, and who because he did was rewarded with honor and many "offspring."

Remember what is promised to those who belong to Christ - the weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). Every other earthly reward should pale in comparison. No matter what we receive here, it will pass and we will be forgotten. Remember where our true hope lies - in the return of our Lord and the inheritance that cannot be lost, nor we can lose because we ourselves our guarded by our Master (1 Peter 1:3-5).