“Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.” Proverbs 27:22
Devotional Thought For The Day
This is a rather dismal and discouraging observation, that there are some people whose foolishness is so ingrained and integrated into who they are that no discipline, punishment, or suffering can grind out or dispel their folly. Such an observation flies in the face of our cherished humanistic philosophy of the basic and inherent goodness of man, that all any person really needs is just a bit more education, and this will result in wise, genuinely good, and productive citizens. Such an observation also flies in the face of much of our correctional philosophy – that with humane and kind incarceration and opportunity to learn a skill or craft every person is capable of being reformed into a safe and socially productive member of society. Our recidivism rates tend to back this proverb, and document that there are more such fools than we would like to acknowledge. Of course this proverb is also descriptive of those who have fallen prey to any of the many “addictions” prevalent these days – whether drugs [illegal or prescribed], alcohol, tobacco, food [gluttony], promiscuity, homosexuality, pornography, riches and prerogative [greed], gossip, or anything else. The same could be said of the self-righteous, the hypocrites, and all who think that they can please God by their performance, gain His approval and blessing, and ultimately His salvation by their works and “goodness.” The notion of some inherent “goodness” in mankind permeates the theology of many people. In other words, such recalcitrant “foolishness” of religiosity is also found within churches.
It is true that I pulled a little switch this morning. Rather than limiting my thoughts to the grotesque foolishness that virtually everyone recognizes, I brought in the foolishness of sin in general, all sin. And truly, all of our sin is rank foolishness, and utterly preposterous! And as all honest people recognize, our sin is just as recalcitrant and impossible to root out as is the worst forms of foolishness. The Scripture describes this morbid reality in numerous places, and urges all people everywhere to repent of all sin, to rue it and lament it, to confess it to God [and when necessary to one another], and to flee to God’s gracious mercy, forgiveness, clemency, and cleansing in Christ Jesus – “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” This is the only escape from “foolishness” and “folly,” and what is impossible for man is possible for God [Luke 18:27] – He alone can separate us from the foolishness of impenitence, commitment to sin and evil, insistence upon excusing ourselves and “justifying” ourselves, and the self-righteous hypocrisy of comparing ourselves favorably against others. This is the loving purpose of giving His only-begotten Son as the blood atonement for our sins. The process is akin to being ground with pestle and mortar – at least the first part, the repentance, allowing God’s Word to do its “hammer” work upon us [Jer. 23:29]. The separation, the restorative work, is also God’s, His glorious and gracious love in Christ Jesus transforming us into His image, from one degree of glory to another [2 Cor. 3:18]. It is God’s love, not pestle and mortar, that separates us from our foolishness. And such reparation of our character is not what we at first envision, but is truly a separation from our folly, and it is observable in at least some measure in some people within the church [Phil. 2:1-8].
This is the purpose of Christ’s church, the destruction of folly and restoration of wisdom, though our foolishness often highjacks the life of the church for other purposes. The fact is that only as “we walk in the light as He is in the light” can we have “fellowship with one another,” and live in the reality that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” [1 Jn. 1:7] – the foolishness that remains [1 Jn. 1:8,10]. This is the fellowship of the apostles, and their fellowship is “with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” [1 Jn. 1:3]. If we desire this fellowship – and only a fool would want any other fellowship – it comes through the pestle and mortar of constant repentance and most importantly the joy of God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. This is not the way chosen by the majority, but it is the way of wisdom and salvation, which only God can work within us [John 6:29; 1 Pet. 1:23]. It will be completed when we finally see Jesus face to face, and see Him as He is [1 Jn. 3:2]. Then the foolishness will be gone from us completely.
So the message of the proverb is only dismal as it applies to human self-determination and living apart from the good news of God’s loving forgiveness and salvation in Christ Jesus, and its intent is to drive us to the gracious mercy of God, Who alone can deliver us and separate us from folly. Blessed are you if He is doing this work in you.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, You provided the necessary elements of God’s restorative and saving work in us in Your suffering and death on the cross, and Your glorious resurrection. You preached and performed this work in Your ministry on earth, using the hammer of Your law to break down impenitence and hypocrisy, and the wondrous Gospel of Your grace, forgiveness, and love to begin repairing hearts and separating them from folly. It took time, even with Your disciples – but they learned. Enable us to learn as well, as we continue in Your Word and in Your love. Amen.