Foolish or Wise? You Decide.

Matthew 25:1-13
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

     I like to think that I am smart. I remember a time in about the seventh grade when my teacher gave the class a “common sense test”. It consisted of a series of one line instructions. The first instruction was to read the entire test. Following this line of instruction were about 20 other lines of instruction that had you calling out words, figuring problems, etc. So you can imagine the uproar in the room. It was also a timed test. So everyone wanted to complete it within the allotted time frame. It was a mad dash to the finish. You knew where everyone was on the test as they called out words. When you got to the last instruction, it said “Now that you have read the test, simply sign your name and turn it in.”

     I thought that I was wise—I was the first one to finish--but it turned out I was foolish. The first instruction said read the test. I did--One instruction at a time. However, I was supposed to read all the instructions first, which meant all I needed to do was sign my name to the paper and I would have been done.

     In the Proverbs, you find proverb upon proverb about the fool. I think God is trying to tell us something. I would like to suggest that we all need to re-examine our relationship with God and make sure that we know who is the fool and who is the wise one in that relationship. Too often, we think that we are wise in the ways of God. From and earthly standpoint, in comparison with other Christians, we might indeed have more godly wisdom. However, our problem becomes that we fall into the trap of thinking that we are on the same plane of wisdom as God. That is when we fall. That is when we sin.

So, think for a minute or two about God and all the wisdom that God possesses. Think then for a moment about all your earthly knowledge and wisdom. Which is greater? Don’t forget what you have learned.