12 Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them. ~ Proverbs 26:12NIV
The Book of Proverbs is filled with many wise and deep passages. I didn’t necessarily understand or fully grasp what this proverb meant, which says there’s more hope for a fool than for a person wise in their own eyes, until a few days ago. See, we run our ministry predominantly online at the moment, which means we come in contact with a lot of people that we probably wouldn’t if we were just a physical ministry. And the more I come in contact with people, the more I understand what Solomon was saying.
See, David defines a fool as someone who says in his heart that there is no God (Psalms 14:1 & Psalms 53:1). It’s not someone who says it out loud. It’s not someone who shouts it from the rooftops. It’s someone who says it in his heart. When our actions don’t follow God’s laws, then we become fools because we are saying in our heart that there is no God. Why? Because this is how we are living our lives, as if there will be no one to stand before on Judgment Day to give an account for all that we have done and haven’t done.
Let that sink in for a second. There is more hope for that person who says that there is no God in their heart than a person who thinks they are wise. That used to baffle me. I couldn’t see how that was true, but the more people I come in contact with, the more I understand. See, the Church is filled with many people who are living their lives for Christ. Who follow the commands. Who do all of these good things, but they refuse to be corrected on Biblical matters because they believe they’re wiser than the one correcting them. They could have no evidence for their belief and be shown 15 different verses that prove their belief wrong, but they will refuse to accept it because they believe they’re wise.
But a fool simply doesn’t believe or lives his life as if he doesn’t believe. Solomon says that there is more hope for that person. Why? Because that person can be corrected. That person can be witnessed to. That person can be guided, but a person wise in their own eyes can’t do any of that. They can’t take correction. They can’t take guidance. They ignore sound teaching all because of their own pride.
Dear LORD, help me to be neither a fool nor wise in my own eyes. Help me to not think more of myself than I ought. Show me Your Truth and remove from me any false teachings that I cling to. Expose any darkness within me and shine Your Light through me. May the Light in me never be darkness, but may I be a Light for You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
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