Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 506 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

As a Dog Returns to Its Vomit - Proverbs 26:1-14

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 506 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the 1st half of Chapter 26.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. As with most businesses, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is slower and less hectic, which is why Paula and I use this week for planning. Our goal for this week is to completely plan 2017 - for both our personal life and business. This involves planning our entire calendar for the next 12 months as well as our financial budgets for the year. There will be some changes during the year, but this gives us a very good foundation from which to work. We feel that it is very wise to plan as much as possible while realizing that God will ultimately direct our steps as we follow Him each day. The opposite of being wise is being foolish.

On today’s trek, we will explore several situations that a fool is caught up in. One of the ways to know if a person is a fool is that they continue their foolishness. This is equated to what a dog does, which is our title for today…

As a Dog Returns To Its Vomit

Let’s start our trek as we explore verses 1-14.

More Proverbs of Solomon

1 Honor is no more associated with fools

than snow with summer or rain with harvest.

Just like we would not expect snow during the summer and rain is rare in the fall, a foolish person should not receive honor for his foolish actions. In our overly sensitive environment of today, we are too quick to honor those who do not deserve it.

2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,

an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.

If you have ever observed the flight of a sparrow or how a swallow darts back and forth, so it is with someone who is cursed without cause. That curse will not have an effect on the unintended person.

3 Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle,

and a fool with a rod to his back!

Just as a whip or small bit in a horse’s mouth will guide the horse wherever it needs to go, the only way to direct a fool on the proper course is through discipline and correction because he is too foolish to correct himself.

4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,

or you will become as foolish as they are.

5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,

or they will become wise in their own estimation.

While these two verses appear to contradict each other, they have to be analyzed in their original intent. You never want to argue with a fool based on his foolish arguments, or you will just be a fool yourself. If a fool wants to argue, counter only with wisdom and truth. In doing so, you will squelch the fool’s argument because they will not know how to effectively refute it.

6 Trusting a fool to convey a message

is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!

A foolish person is not reliable and usually cannot be trusted. When you try to rely on them, the results will be ineffective. It is the same as handicapping yourself or drinking poison and expecting it to make someone else ill.

7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool

is as useless as a paralyzed leg.

A proverb is a short wise saying, and when it comes from the mouth of a foolish person, it is of no use because it does not impact the person who is saying it.