“Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. Backsliders get what they deserve; good people receive their reward. Only simpletons believe everything they’re told! The prudent carefully consider their steps. The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence. Short-tempered people do foolish things, and schemers are hated. Simpletons are clothed with foolishness, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. Evil people will bow before good people; the wicked will bow at the gates of the godly. The poor are despised even by their neighbors, while the rich have many “friends.” It is a sin to belittle one’s neighbor; blessed are those who help the poor. If you plan to do evil, you will be lost; if you plan to do good, you will receive unfailing love and faithfulness. Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! Wealth is a crown for the wise; the effort of fools yields only foolishness. A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is a traitor. Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a refuge for their children. Fear of the Lord is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death. A growing population is a king’s glory; a prince without subjects has nothing. People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.”
Proverbs 14:13-29 NLT
The book of James outlines with a Post Christ simplicity the dividing line between the wise and the foolish. Those who exemplify Godly wisdom are slow to speak, slow to anger and quick to listen. Solomon gives us several points to consider about the wise and the foolish person, without ever straying to far from this premise. There are those who believe themselves to be wise and whom the world makes a mockery of. These people have a specific behavior that is attached to their actions. It is patience, prudence, or as James will point out, speed. A wise person relies on God’s providence, by trust in his grace. A fool, conversely, trust no one beyond the pangs of his own appetites. Instead his behavior is reckless, consumptive and quickly burns out. This makes him a spectacle. It can lead to quick riches, fame and glory, but if he doesn’t keep chasing a new frenzy to pursue, his wake of destruction catches up to him. Either way, it will catch up to him eventually. A Godly man takes the time to toil against his own pangs. He treats them as something to be overcome, in faith that they are aberrations to his intended state. He knows he is more than impulse, and upon discipline, he finds the nobility of the human creature. Like Nebuchadnezzar, our rabid pursuit of our appetites does not lift us beyond the animals. It is only the acknowledgment of God and his image within us that takes us to such heights.
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