FOOL ALERT!



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I confess as I read the Old Testament, I find some incidents beyond my ability to understand, and when all I have is the knowledge of my lifetime, that is so very finite in light of 3,000 years.  Some of the aspects of the culture of 1000 BC, I find difficult to force 2017  more`s and values, much less Christian teachings on some of the incidents.  I look for truths which I can apply to my own life and any "alerts" which I see.  I want to share with other travelers that "the bridge is out on the highway, and be very alert and cautious as you choose the route you are going to take." An old friend, now deceased, once shared with me, "Experience can be the teacher of fools."  As I read, I can see foolish choices, and be most willing to inspect my own life for foolish choices made or making, and be wary not to make again, and a willingness to correct. 

King Solomon, by this reading, has been given wisdom from the Lord God.  2 Kings 4:29 describes Solomon's wisdom, "great insight, and a breath of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore."  He is considered wiser than any man;  He has written 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs; He was able to describe plant life; He taught about all kinds of animals; and men from other nations came to hear his wisdom.  In chapters 5-7, he builds the Temple for God from the resources which his father had collected in his war chest, and the building is finished after 7 years.  Another 13 years is spent building his palace and a second palace for the daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh that he marries at the first of his reign.  With this impressive resume`, we are going to see Solomon has great accomplishments, but remember, many of his writings in Proverbs are about the actions of a fool and an adulterer.    This reading, chapters 1-11 will be concerned with Solomon's best choices and his very foolish choices.

My foolish choices do not define me, but they surely do cause some stop and drop to your knees praying to cry out for forgiveness, mercy, and grace from the Lord.  Proverbs 14:16, "A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless."  Solomon will misuse the blessings that God has graciously given him for his own pleasure and his presumption.  I want to learn by observation and not by making horrid choices and then have to learn.  I do not enjoy pain!  Forever learning! In process! #IHAVETHREESONS

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