Day 26: A ticking bomb.

Today we are reading Proverbs chapter 26 and Psalm chapters 120-125. As always, ask God to visit with you today and open your eyes to new wisdom he may have for you.

-Read Scripture-

I love Proverbs 26 because it addresses something we all have to deal with here on this Earth: fools. Fools make poor decisions, they are lazy, untrustworthy, disillusioned, naive, and can be very dangerous at certain times. We have all, at one point or another, been hurt by a fool. (Or been the fool.) That person who refuses to hear the truth and continues to make decisions that hurt themselves and those around them.

"As a dog returns to it's vomit, so fools repeat their folly." Proverbs 26:11 TNIV

The dangerous thing about fools is that their decisions rarely only hurt themselves, it hurts those around them. "Like an archer who shoots at random and injures everyone, so is a person who hires a fool..." Proverbs 26:10 The Voice.  I also think this verse is applicable to those who are friends/family with a fool. You hear about this or experience this yourself all the time. Your friend at work made a horrible decision and your name was attached to theirs so you were involved in the repercussions. Someone you know was in a car with a fool who had too much to drink and suffered the consequences.  Your mom married a fool and your entire family suffered. I could go on and on... If you think about it, it doesn't matter if you are the one who causes the explosion or if you are right next to them.  If you are too close, the shrapnel is just as dangerous.

"Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes." Proverbs 26:4-5 NKJ Now these verses were a little confusing to me at first. He tells us not to answer in one verse, then tell us to answer in the next. Then I realized the truth, the whole point is that it is a lose lose situation. Either you respond to their foolishness and you end up looking foolish, or you don't and they don't see the problem! Lose lose. I don't know about you, but I don't like lose lose situations, and tend to try and avoid them.

Today, I want us to think about our friends and who we spend our time with. Do you have any ticking time bombs in your life? Are you in some lose lose situations? Have you been trying to talk some sense into someone with no results?

Now I don't think we should abandon all the "fools" in our lives, after all we are all "foolish" at times. But there is a difference with someone being foolish and a fool, and there is a way to live at a safe distance. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what that looks like as it is different for every person and situation. For example, you can't escape your family ;) But you should start that dialogue with God about what a it might look like for you and those around you if you constantly find yourself in the company of fools. Just be conscience of who you spend your time with and how close you allow yourself to danger. Most of the time, you never see it until it's too late. That is why it is so important to guard ourselves and our loved ones.

Day 17: I pity da fool!

Today we are reading Proverbs 17 and Psalm chapters 81-85. Before you read today, ask God to speak to you. Claim Psalm 81:5, "I hear this most gentle whisper from One, I never guessed would speak to me." The Message version.

-Read Scripture-

I don't know about you, but when I read the Proverbs, I tend to pay special attention to the characteristics of the wise. After all, that is the goal right? We are striving to be and learn to be wise. But the truth is, we can learn a lot from the characteristics of the fool. It can be an indication or a red flag that we are on a wrong path. Those proverbs show us our weaknesses and exactly what we need to work on, so we shouldn't glide past them with out taking some time to address them. It's easy to just strive to be wise, we will always be doing that. It's much harder to face your foolishness. And unless we do that, we will not make it very far down wisdom's road.

So I think it's time we face our foolishness and ask ourselves some VERY hard questions. Because once we recognize when and where we tend to be foolish, we can begin to change and replace those tendencies with wisdom.

(I know it's a funny pic, and I couldn't help myself. But, I'd go ahead and get all your laughing out of the way because we's about to get serious!)

Proverbs Top Seven List: 

You might be a fool if...

1. You perk up when you hear gossip. (Proverbs 17:4) Are you ever in a conversation, half paying attention and then your friend mentions your mutual friend who is going through a rough time and you jump back in the conversation full force? Do you "itch" to know what's going on with a situation even though you are not involved? Confession: This is one of my big fool indicators :(

2. You make fun of or tease the less fortunate. (Proverbs 17:5) Do you make fun of your friend's beater car behind their back? Have you ever quit hanging out with someone because you started making more money than them? Do you secretly feel that people who have less are worth less or are inferior?

3. You celebrate another's misfortune. (Proverbs 17:5) This is the one that no one wants to admit, but look within. Do you secretly celebrate when a friend fails? Are you relieved when once, he didn't get that promotion? Or have you ever hoped someone wouldn't be able to achieve something because you couldn't? I am, ashamedly, guilty of this.

4. You repeatedly recall other's past mistakes. (Proverbs 17:9) Do you have trouble letting things go? Even if you don't bring it to that person's attention, do you keep recalling those mistakes in your heart and mind? Do you keep using those past failures to keep your friend/sibling/spouse in check?

5. You pick fights, or enjoy fighting with others. (Proverbs 17:9) This one is harder to see in yourself. Only because when you are fighting with someone, you are right and the other person is wrong! We want to blame the other person for the fight because, after all, they are the wrong one. But if you tend to get in fights often with your family and friends, chances are YOU are the common denominator.

6. You accept bribes or ignore injustice. (Proverbs 17:23) This doesn't have to be the traditional "money under the table" bribe. It could be as simple as looking the other way when you knew something bad was going down. Do you ignore injustices and wrong doing to maintain your status?

7. The glass is always half empty. (Proverbs 17:22) Do you always fear the worst? Do you always see the negative of the situation? Do you bring joy into an environment or do you drain it? Most people wouldn't associate this characteristic with being a fool, but robbing yourself and those around you of joy is most definitely a foolish way to live!

These are some hard questions. If we are honest with ourselves and take a hard look in the mirror, we see where we are a fool. You are foolish, and I am most certainly foolish. But the good news is that once we see it, it becomes easier to recognize and easier to eliminate those tendencies. Once a flaw is exposed, it is hard to ignore!

I've grown a lot this year by learning and recognizing some pretty deep flaws of my own. And I pray that God continues to reveal my weaknesses so I can begin to work on them and grow. So that slowly, I can become more like my master, Jesus.

I pray this for you as well. That we not be content to sit on our flaws and foolish tendencies or accept them as just "the way we are" or "the way we were made." Bull honky. Jesus has called you to be more than that. He has called us to be like him, and that will take us a lifetime. Let's start today by answering these hard questions and taking a hard look in the mirror. Ask God to expose all the foolishness. Then, together, let's ask him to begin to change us!