Setting – Wisdom and foolishness in circumstances in life
Content – An ounce of foolish outweighs a pound of wisdom (v. 1 NLT) “Yes, an ounce of foolishness can outweigh a pound of wisdom and honor.” The foolish are distinguishable by their very nature (v. 3 NLT) “You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!”
Circumstances in life show that life isn’t fair (v. 5b-6 NLT) “…Kings and rulers make a grave mistake if they give foolish people great authority, and if they fail to give people of proven worth their rightful place of dignity.”
Circumstances in life pose danger (v. 9 NLT) “When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you! When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax! Such are the risks of life.”
Sharpening yourself through wisdom is helpful (v. 10 NLT) “Since a dull ax requires great strength, sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed.”
Some things that foolish people do:
- Base their decisions on other foolish premises - (v. 13 NLT) “Since fools base their thoughts on foolish premises, their conclusions will be wicked madness.”
- Claim they know what’s going to happen – (v. 14 NLT) “Foolish people claim to know all about the future and tell everyone the details! But who can really know what is going to happen?”
- Do little work – (v. 15 NLT) “Fools are so exhausted by a little work that they have no strength for even the simplest tasks.”
Application – Life doesn’t always turn out the way we hoped. Life always has natural consequences, both good and bad. We have can choose to approach life either with wisdom or foolishness. Solomon sees that “an ounce of foolishness can outweigh a pound of wisdom and honor.” Wisdom will help “That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed” Wisdom comes through learning and observation. Trials can help produce wisdom. If we want wisdom we may need to pursue through the trial.
Content – An ounce of foolish outweighs a pound of wisdom (v. 1 NLT) “Yes, an ounce of foolishness can outweigh a pound of wisdom and honor.” The foolish are distinguishable by their very nature (v. 3 NLT) “You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!”
Circumstances in life show that life isn’t fair (v. 5b-6 NLT) “…Kings and rulers make a grave mistake if they give foolish people great authority, and if they fail to give people of proven worth their rightful place of dignity.”
Circumstances in life pose danger (v. 9 NLT) “When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you! When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax! Such are the risks of life.”
Sharpening yourself through wisdom is helpful (v. 10 NLT) “Since a dull ax requires great strength, sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed.”
Some things that foolish people do:
- Base their decisions on other foolish premises - (v. 13 NLT) “Since fools base their thoughts on foolish premises, their conclusions will be wicked madness.”
- Claim they know what’s going to happen – (v. 14 NLT) “Foolish people claim to know all about the future and tell everyone the details! But who can really know what is going to happen?”
- Do little work – (v. 15 NLT) “Fools are so exhausted by a little work that they have no strength for even the simplest tasks.”
Application – Life doesn’t always turn out the way we hoped. Life always has natural consequences, both good and bad. We have can choose to approach life either with wisdom or foolishness. Solomon sees that “an ounce of foolishness can outweigh a pound of wisdom and honor.” Wisdom will help “That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed” Wisdom comes through learning and observation. Trials can help produce wisdom. If we want wisdom we may need to pursue through the trial.
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