Don't Play The Fool
"Behold, I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly." (1 Samuel 26:21)
With this post beginning on April 1st, I felt we could gain much wisdom if we look at what God's Word says about what He calls the fool, their actions and thoughts... so we can avoid those ways, mainly focusing on our finances.
The first reference to a fool in the Psalms appears in 14:1 - "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God...". So how does that look regarding finances? The fool, who feels God does not exist, does not regard Him as their source and that their own strength has brought them their wealth. This fool obviously will not honor the Lord in tithes and offerings, which then leaves them ineligible from God's promised blessings for doing so including opening the windows of heaven for them (Malachi 3:10-11).
This next concept is the most important, which is why it is displayed in multiple verses:
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes... (Proverbs 12:15)
A fool despises his father's instruction and correction... (Proverbs 15:5)
A fool has no delight in understanding... (Proverbs 18:2)
But fools despise skillful and godly Wisdom, instruction and discipline. (Proverbs 1:7)
Do you see the theme? The fool sees no need of gaining wisdom, because they feel they know it all, even when his own father tries to help him. We can learn from this and grow, by recognizing our need for wisdom. This first comes from feeding on God's Word daily to bring us the constant nourishment we need for that day's challenges, and to store up for use at the appropriate time to be applied. Second, we can increase our understanding in our finances, applying the foundations from the Financial Fitness Page (I encourage you to check out the Archives section), and from others who provide sound, biblical financial knowledge.
In gaining personal financial wisdom, I will again make mention of a fundamental truth. You need to know where you are currently at. Therefore it is critical to log your expenses for one to two months, then go over your findings. Everyone who does so finds areas they were spending more than they assumed once they laid it out. That knowledge then shows where you can make choices to reduce spending and use those funds lower your debts.
In the opening of Matthew 25, Jesus spoke of ten virgins and referred to five of them being foolish, because they took their lamps without any extra oil with them. This lack of forethought is also brought up in Proverbs 21:20 where it is written "the foolish man spends whatever he gets." We are also charged in 1 Timothy 5:8 to provide for our relatives and own family - however, look at the root word of provide (pronoeo), and it shows "to consider in advance, look out beforehand".
God wants us to be wise and part of doing so is making reasonable and thoughtful provision for the future. This is not to attempt to accumulate such enormous wealth in a driven manner that the person then falls into the other trap of trusting in their riches, rather than in God.
With this, think of an analogy of making a moderate length car trip. The fool will not even look at the gas gauge, the wise person will consider the length of the trip and have enough in the tank plus some more in case of detour, and the greedy gasping person will employ a gas tanker to drive behind them in case they run out of gas on their own.
Consider this next verse from Proverbs 14:16 in regards to a questionable purchase, either because it sounds too good to be true or has aspects that warrant further study... "A wise man suspects danger and cautiously avoids evil, but the fool is arrogant and careless." If we look back on some buys we have made and regretted shortly afterwards, an application of this verse may have steered us clear from making it in the first place.
If you identified yourself as having "played the fool" in some of the examples above (I have done so) and regret doing so... take courage! Because having that regret already shows you are in a better state of mind than the fool we mentioned, who has no delight in understanding (Proverbs 18:2).
Lastly, be encouraged with these verses from Ephesians 5:15-17, and what I share beneath them:
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
I will share briefly how these words spoke to my wife Karen and I when we were in our infancy of getting out of debt. Once we knew it was God's will for us to be debt-free, these words were a source of strength - speaking to grasping onto the will of the Lord and living wisely. Once we paid off our mortgage and saw how that action saved 23 years of future payments, it brought a sobering thought to the portion of "making the very most of the time", as we then felt we had 23 years given back to us from the Lord by His wisdom.
God Bless you and may He show Himself greatly to you,
Paul
