Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

Proverbs 17:24

This was a tough one to sort out and I decided to utilize www.blueletterbible.org and its commentaries to help me understand. They were very helpful. Though I doubt these timeless scholars would imagine that my mind would go to a classic movie character, Jack Sparrow from The Pirates of the Caribbean! LOL

 Jack Sparrow is the epitome of a fool always chasing for the treasure, the gold, the fountain of youth. Somehow, he always manages to stay alive, sort of, but they are after all…just movies about Jack, so he has to stay alive, even when he dies. Thus, the movie, “World’s End”. In this movie a whole boat load of fools tries to find the world’s end where a purgatory of sorts is located and where they will find Jack, sort of dead. You probably know all this. 

My digression to Jack Sparrow, and pirates in general, is their foolishness in always looking for the next big score; the next big mother lode. But, they don’t think through any of it, they don’t regard consequences of their criminal activity and have zero respect for human lives. They are always looking to “the ends of the earth” and never find it.

All the commentaries agree that this verse about the fool is speaking of their wasteful obsession with unattainable goals, their scattered thoughts and objectives, and neglecting present needs and ignoring current blessings while chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 6:9

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Matthew 6:34

So, do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The commentaries also agree that the contrast between a wise person and a fool in our key verse is in how each conduct themselves in their daily lives. The wise person lives with a focus on what God brings into their daily lives and a determination to stay with God on the path He has ordained. It is not that the wise person doesn’t have dreams for the future, they do. It is that those dreams are grounded in God’s purpose for their life. 

Conversely, the fool only has his or her dreams. They squander the present and neglect the people who love them just to keep chasing the carrot Satan always dangles before them. And there is always a carrot. There is always the next big million-dollar idea. There are always casualties scattered in the wake of a fool chasing the wind. 

It’s fun to play pirates as a kid and watch the swatch buckling movies. But, the boxes of pirates and fools are empty of any meaningful contribution to this life or to the life to come.