A wise man is cautious and turns away evil,
Proverbs 14:16
but a fool is arrogant and careless.
Proverbs chapter 14 gives us a wealth of insight about fools and foolishness. And we continue with that discussion today with our key verse.
The two most prominent thought processes of a fool are: “These rules do not apply to me” and “There will not be any negative consequences resulting from my words or actions.” Both of these mindsets are arrogant and careless. Solomon knew this to be true and so do we.
Someone who simply makes a foolish remark will regret that remark almost as fast as it leaves their lips. Just as a person who participates in foolish behavior one time very quickly surmises the consequences of those foolish actions and may even boldly proclaim those concerns to his or her fellow fools. That is why such a usually wise person is not asked a second time to come along for the next foolish prank. Fools do not like being told ahead of time the consequences of their words or behaviors. A dyed in the wool fool takes pride in their foolishness and very often ups the ante with continuously more foolish words and behavior.
As I have mentioned, this is painfully obvious all over social media and especially on video based platforms, so I will not belabor that today. What I so want to toss out is the foolishness of entitlement. And I am not just talking about the Gen Z’s of our culture. Entitlement attitudes are rampant in every generation, including mine…the Baby Boomers. An entitlement mindset is something each of us has to keep locked in a cage and throw away the key because it is such an easy and quick snare that is so very foolish!
Just consider some basic traits of people who are fools and see if it doesn’t fit ‘hand-in-glove’ with people who believe they are entitled to…well…to just about anything .
Fools just cannot understand how or why they should be facing any consequences for their word and actions.
Fools do not use foresight when they want something. They just think they should get what they want without any planning or outlay on their part.
Fools do not want to work, train or gain knowledge toward goals. They think their goals should just somehow magically happen.
Fools believe life is all about fun and parties and…more fun…and more parties. And someone else should pay for that fun and those parities.
Fools have no concept of personal responsibility or the rewards of hard work and serving others.
Fools believe they are the center of the universe.
Jesus shared a parable in the Gospel of Luke. You may remember the story of the rich man who had way more riches than he could use himself so he decided to build bigger barns to hold all his riches and then take his ease and just enjoy having so much all to himself. We might ponder why that is a bad plan. We may not even consider that a rich man can be foolish. BUT, this rich man fell into the snare of entitlement! And Jesus warned his listeners of the consequences of entitlement.
But, Jesus warned His listeners…
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Luke 12:20
31 Days in Proverbs 